The brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), linked to repeated hits to the head, can only be diagnosed after death via a brain autopsy. But many very-much-alive former professional football players believe they have it.

Far from the lime light of the football field, former NFL players are asking themselves a chilling question: do I have CTE? About a third of surveyed football players in a new study in the journal JAMA Neurology think they have CTE,

Among former NFL athletes who volunteered to complete a questionnaire, 34.4% said they perceived they had CTE, according to Rachel Grashow, PhD, MS, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and co-authors.

Roughly one-third of former professional football players surveyed believe they have CTE, a study found. The brain disease is linked to repeated hits to the head.

CTE also reported having suicidal thoughts Approximately one-third of former football players believe they have a degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to a new survey.

About 35% of 1,980 retired professional football players who participated in a survey said they believe they have CTE, Harvard University study finds.