When former San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson passed away back in February, it left everyone in shock. Jackson, who had been reported missing by his family, was found unresponsive in a Florida hotel room at just 38 years old.
Just three years before his passing, Jackson had officially retired from a widely successful 12-year NFL career that began in 2005. Jackson had many accomplishments, both on and off the field, such as being Tampa Bay’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in four of the five years he was with the team before his retirement.
While tragic news is always tough to swallow, the family has begun getting some answers regarding his behavior leading up to his death.
Greg Auman of The Athletic shared an announcement from the family of Jackson, revealing brain researchers discovered the former receiver had suffered from stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, otherwise known as CTE. Boston University researchers determined Jackson’s brain, combined with his behavior displayed common traits of CTE.
Vincent’s widow, Lindsey, and the rest of his family’s goal in sharing this information with the public is to help raise awareness about the degenerative brain disease.
For those interested, as Mr. Auman shares, more information is available through the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
As we’ve seen all too commonly from athletes after their passing, CTE is a frightening tale of what can happen from the ugly side of sports collisions. Even after the release of the film Concussion, starring Will Smith which highlighted some of the concerns, CTE is a disease we just don’t know enough about yet.
While Vincent Jackson’s family wanted to help raise public awareness to help others in the future, they also will not be making any further comments to the media regarding Vincent’s passing.
