Boston University will collaborate with the Medical University of South Carolina to study and analyze the brain of a former NFL player who killed five people and then himself earlier this week.
They hope to determine whether Phillip Adams – who played six games for the Patriots in 2011 and spent six years in the NFL – had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that could have stemmed from his time playing football.
Routine forensic autopsies don’t identify CTE, but this study could possibly provide more insight. The BU CTE Center conducts research on the long-term effects of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and military personnel.