NFL wide receiver Dez Bryant on Tuesday said many professional football players are living with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) but are afraid to speak out about their symptoms.
Bryant’s tweet came the same day as a New York Times report that said former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who played a key role in the team’s 2015 Super Bowl championship run, had been posthumously diagnosed with stage 2 CTE.
“DT88 my heart weak bro… it’s a lot of us living with CTE and the NFL know it…most importantly the Athletes who have those symptoms are scared to speak,” Bryant, who spent eight seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. “1 thing about me ain’t living no false life…my love and support for athletes are on a much deeper level than most.”
Thomas, a four-time Pro Bowl selection at wide receiver, died in December at his home in Roswell, Ga. Authorities believe his death was caused by medical complications stemming from a 2019 vehicle crash.
A Concussion Legacy Foundation medical professional said that Thomas struggled with both CTE and seizures caused by the crash.
Thomas’s family members also told the Times that they saw the signs of CTE, which can be formally diagnosed only after death, during the star wide receiver’s last year of life, during which he suffered from memory loss, paranoia and isolation.
Thomas is among a growing list of former NFL players who have been diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease, including former San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson, whose family said in November that the 38-year-old star player, who was found dead in a hotel room earlier that year, suffered from stage 2 chronic CTE.