One day after former 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark announced he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — and suspects football as the cause — several medical experts acknowledged potential connections between the neuromuscular disease and head trauma associated with the sport.
Nearly all of the doctors interviewed Monday by The Chronicle called the link controversial, partly because it went undetected for so long. But one neurologist insisted ALS has become more recognized in the past five years as “part of the picture” surrounding chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease found in dozens of former NFL players.