One day after an interview aired in which Rob Gronkowski estimated he’s suffered 20 concussions, five of which he called blackouts, the former New England Patriots tight end made quite a claim about CTE.
Over the last few years, knowledge about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has increased, particularly in relation to football. There still is some uncertainty surrounding it, though, especially in terms of a potential cure.
Chris Nowinski, one of the leading medical minds regarding CTE, tweeted to Gronkowski that while he appreciated the 30-year-old’s bravery to talk about his head trauma, there isn’t actually a fix for CTE at the moment. Gronkowski countered that by not only saying CTE is fixable, but that he fixed his own troubles with CTE.
It is fixable. I fixed mine. There are plenty of methods in this world that allow the brain to recover from severe damage. That is also why I would allow my kid to play football. https://t.co/9aI1olAdqP
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) September 13, 2019
Nowinski responded.
Regarding letting your son play, I have no problem with that. The discussion we are trying to educate on is not if they play, but when (what age) they start tackle. The research is telling us too many years is problem.
— Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. (@ChrisNowinski1) September 13, 2019
Interesting.
Gronkowski obviously knows his truth, but it is tough to argue with the science end of things. Hopefully this ends with a collaboration showing that progress can be made in understanding CTE.
