Stories
This section highlights the men that lost the battle to CTE.
Tyler Hillinski
Washington State University
Tyler Hillinski was a quarterback that played college football for Washington State University from 2015-2018. Tyler was 21 years old when he shot himself, leaving a suicide note and a rifle next to his dead body. After the Mayo Clinic reached out to the Hillinski’s about their son’s death, they were shocked to hear that Tyler was suffering from CTE. Autopsy reports concluded that Tyler was suffering from Stage I CTE (The lowest level), and had extensive brain damage, which was the equivalent of a brain of a 65-year-old.
Matthew Gee
University of Southern California
Matthew Gee was a linebacker for the University of Southern California. Gee was the Capitan of the 1991 Trojan football team and won two rose bowls with the school. Gee lost his life in 2018 at the age of 49 due to State II-III CTE. However, Gee experienced behavioral issues that affected his impulse control years prior. His wife Alaina sued the NCAA and is now a major advocate against CTE. According to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a Non-Profit organization dedicated to safer sports through education and innovation, Alana remembers Matt coming home and complaining about hard hits yet having to stay face for the coaches at USC. The sad reality is by the time Gee was able to start his family, his battle with CTE was already lost.
Via ESPN.com
Greg Ploetz
The University of Texas at Austin
Greg Ploetz was a Texas Longhorn during the late 60s and early 70s. In that time, he was named Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Ploetz suffered from brain injuries and ultimately died in 2015 at the age of 66. When he died, Ploetz’s brain was donated to the Concussion Legacy Foundation at Boston University where they concluded he was suffering from Stage IV CTE, the most severe level of the neurodegenerative disease. His wife, Debra, sued the NCAA for more than 1 million in damages. She was successful.
Via ConcussionLegacyFoundation.com
John Davis
Southern Methodist University
John Davis was an SMU lineman from 1955-1959, after which he became a teacher and a coach. However, as he got older, he suffered more and more from headaches, memory loss, anxiety, paranoia, and psychotic episodes. These all align with CTE symptoms. The estate of John Davis sued the NCAA for negligence and sought out $1M in damages, as it failed to “educate Davis on the symptoms and harms related to concussions, promulgate risk-mitigating rules relating to concussions, and require pre-season baseline neurological testing” according to SportsLitigationAlert.com. Ultimately, the plaintiff argues that this led to Davis’s CTE and Alzheimer’s later in life.
Via texaslsn.org
Via YahooSports.com