Daniel Bryan’s career-ending concussion blight may not be the first, but it is the most glaring in recent memory. It’s astonishing that despite there being huge names like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart and Chris Benoit who had well-documented struggles with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE, not enough is heard about the efforts made to understand, pre-empt, avoid and treat the condition.
It is with that in mind that WWE Hall Of Famer Kevin Nash has promised to donate his brain to the CTE Center at Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation after his death to further research about CTE. Former WWE Hardcore Champion Chris Nowinski, whose career was a victim of concussions, has been championing investigation into the dreaded condition that is the prime suspect behind the Chris Benoit murder-suicide and the deaths of NFL players Andre Waters and Justin Strzelczyk.
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Nash told ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein, “Chris Nowinski started the program, and I've had several concussions throughout my life and had scans done and stuff and knew that somewhere down the line, I've already had short-term memory problems. I decided to go ahead. The only way you can diagnose this is after you're dead.”
Nowinski, the first Harvard graduate to wrestle in the WWE, acknowledged Nash’s compassion in a statement to Rothstein: “It's so powerful when icons like Kevin Nash are willing to pledge their brain for research and talk about it publicly. Brain donation is really driving our growing knowledge of CTE and the long-term effects of brain trauma.
“And so I'm hoping that we solve this problem before Kevin's time comes, but Kevin announcing this means that other families are aware that this research is important and that if they lose somebody, they may think of the Concussion Legacy Foundation.”
