CTE was first described in 1928, when Dr. Harrison Martland described a group of boxers as having “punch drunk syndrome.”. In 2002, he discovered the presence of a degenerative disease in the brain of former pro football player Mike Webster, naming the condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Over the next 75 years, several researchers reported similar findings in boxers and victims of brain trauma, but fewer than 50 cases were confirmed. Researchers confirm the first identifciation of the degenerative brain disease CTE in a living person, previously only determined wiht a brain exam after death.