Former NFL runner Larry Johnson fears football damaged his brain

Former Kansas City Chiefs runner Larry Johnson says he fears football damaged his brain after years of hard hits in the NFL.

Now 46, he says he can remember little of his career, which lasted seven seasons and ended in 2011.

Johnson has long suspected he has chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head impacts.

CTE can only be diagnosed after death, so his suspicion cannot be confirmed while he is alive.

A study of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 found CTE in 74.5% of them; among nearly 400 players whose brains were donated, 93.5% showed evidence of the disease.

The findings highlight the risks of repeated head impacts in football, which were not widely recognized when Johnson played, although the NFL had evidence of lasting harm and publicly disputed the link.

The sources do not say what Johnson plans to do next.