Arizona Wildcats linebacker Tony Fields II was shaken when he heard former Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski committed suicide in January.
“I felt real bad,” he said. “It was a sad situation, just to see a guy that I played against, a guy that I shook hands with ... ended up dead. It’s sad.”
An autopsy later showed Hilinski showed signs of CTE, a degenerative brain disease that is caused by repeated blows to the head. The symptoms include depression, cognitive impairment and suicidal thoughts or actions.
The news of the diagnosis upset Fields, too, because he once put a big hit on Hilinski.