Head Trauma in America: Chronic Trauma Encephalopathy

Frosty Wooldridge

July 17, 2025

Encephalopathy refers to a broad range of conditions that affect brain function, causing neurological symptoms. It’s not a single disease but rather a syndrome resulting from different underlying causes. These causes can include infections, metabolic issues, toxins, brain injury, or other systemic conditions. Symptoms can range from mild cognitive changes to severe neurological deficits, including confusion, memory loss, seizures, and even coma.

Cassius Clay, a.k.a., Muhammed Ali, one of the greatest boxers in modern history, lived the last 25 years of his life in chronic pain, onset Parkinson’s Disease, trembling limbs, inability to speak and suffered from dementia.

Once the talk of the world, he enjoyed good looks, an awesome 6’3” 220 pound physique, and lightning speed. He also sported a limited 78 IQ. While he enjoyed incredible attention, he suffered intellectual challenges.

“It is widely cited that Muhammad Ali scored a low IQ on a US Army entrance exam in the 1960s. Some sources state the score was as low as 68, while others say 78 or 83.”

While he commanded millions of dollars and millions of adoring fans, his finances hit bottom to the point he had to fight Larry Holmes who was 20 years younger, bigger and even more powerful. Holmes used Ali’s head for a speed bag during the fight. It proved a sad ending to Ali’s fabulous life. Ali lived the last 25 years of his life in utter misery.

Joe Frasier, one of Ali’s contenders, could not put two sentences together at the end of his life. In fact, most fighters who remain in the ring, live their lives with CTE or Chronic Trauma Encephalopathy. Debilitating, painful, dementia, misery.

Today, we see kick-boxing cage fighting. Those guys and gals literally knock the stuffings out of each other’s brains. If you’ve ever seen a fight, it’s quite sickening to see their heads rock back from the blows. You have to be a sadist to see the human destruction of another human being. It’s a blood sport.

Yet, like the Romans at the Coliseum, where 1.0 million men met their bloody deaths, and 3.0 million animals were slaughtered to the delight of the barbarian crowds, Americans love to see physical damage onto another human being.

That’s why the National Football League enjoys 80,000 to 100,000 modern day spectators or “fanatics” to pay huge money to watch gladiators tear into each other with incredible violence. The greater the collisions, the more the crowd roars. When someone is knocked out of the game, another gladiator comes into to take his place. The crowd could care less as to who gets hurt or how badly.

Consequentially, 92 percent of professional football players suffer from CTE. They suffer onset dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The average death for pro football players is 59 years.

“The average lifespan of a former NFL player is reportedly 59.6 years, which is significantly lower than the average lifespan of an American male, which is 76.3 years. Another study found that former NFL players die about 7 years earlier than former MLB players. This shorter lifespan is linked to higher rates of brain and heart disease, especially among those who played as linemen.”

The more an athlete gets his or her brains bashed in, the sooner they suffer dementia, Parkinson’s, tremors, and CTE. One of football’s greats from the Dallas Cowboys, Tony Dorsett, suffers horrible late-in-life consequences to his brain and body.

The Patriots’ famous tight end, Rob Gronkowski, at 6’7” 260 pounds, suffered 22 major concussions in his life. Even Tom Brady suffered hundreds of “sub-concussions” in his storied career. It’s going to be interesting how the last 1/3 of their lives will turn out after they turn 50.

The same goes for all the kids playing soccer when they use their heads, called “heading”, to hit the ball toward a team mate. With repeated “headings” as a young child, that young person faces damage to their developing brains. The more they play, the greater the damage.

With hockey, we’re talking tremendous brain damage when players get “checked.” Such hits from 230 pound hockey players rattles a person’s brain inside their heads. The damage multiplies over the years.

Parents need to examine how they want their kids’ lives to progress. Any and all contact sports where a person’s brain gets “hammered” repeatedly, need to be examined.

From own experience, I played Little League football, high school, and into college. I played at Michigan State at 6’2” 195 pounds, split end, fast with excellent hands. I used to get pounded on the practice squad with 6’8”, 280 pound Bubba Smith. I used to try to block him at his shoe laces so I would not get forearmed. My speed and size didn’t mean much in the Big Ten because there was always someone bigger, faster and meaner. In my junior, I got knocked out and in a coma for two days. I tried to cross body block a 240 pound linebacker, but I hit his up and coming knee. My helmet flew off and my body went limp. I woke up in the hospital two days later. That was the last time I suited up.

What am I saying? If you’re a parent, you might think twice before sending your child into a contact sport. Since I suffered that head trauma in college, I took up racquetball, tennis, bicycle racing, triathlons, mountain biking, swimming, squash, running, skiing, badminton, bowling, pickleball, rafting, rowing, weight lifting, dancing, and another dozen non-contact sports. I’ve enjoyed myself, played my heart out, won a few, lost a few…and thankfully, I can speak, write, talk, think, and still play all those sports.

In this life, there is nothing more important than your health. Money, fame, status mean nothing if you lack good health. You need to eat right to keep slim, such as the Mediterranean Diet, exercise one hour daily, maintain your spiritual balance whether church or meditation, and keep learning. As President Thomas Jefferson said, “I cannot live without books.” Hang with healthy friends, maintain purpose, laugh a lot, and be thrilled that you’re living a gracious, productive, happy and fulfilling life. Our lives are a one-time miracle in this universe. Make the very best of yours. Life and light, Sandi and Frosty Wooldridge

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