27-Year-Old Late Giants Safety Had CTE

Former New York Giants safety Tyler Sash, who died from an accidental overdose of painkillers, was found to have a high level of CTE when he died in September at age 27, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated trauma and has been found in dozens of former National Football League players. Sash’s family, who donated his brain to science, were reportedly notified by Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation that he had been diagnosed with the disease, which can only be confirmed posthumously. Officials told the family that the disease had “advanced to a stage rarely seen in someone his age,” the Times reports. Sash was released by the Giants in 2013 and struggled with “confusion, memory loss, and minor fits of temper” that hindered his ability to find meaningful employment after he left the league, according to the Times.