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- Researchers say a CTE test for current and former NFL players may arrive soon.
- No current test can confirm CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head injuries.
- Larry Johnson, 46, says memory lapses make him believe he has CTE.
A game-changing medical test could be coming soon for current and former NFL players.
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Right now, there is no way of knowing if a person has chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is a brain disease that is believed to be caused by repeated head injuries. The Mayo Clinic said it causes the death of nerve cells in the brain.
Mass General Brigham researchers found a minimum of 25% of football players who were in at least one NFL game in their careers and who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE. The family of former Chiefs offensive lineman Jordan Devey, who died by suicide this summer at the age of 38, believes he had CTE.
But Michael Alosco, a neuropsychologist at Boston University, told ESPN’s Stephen Holder that researchers are “close” to having a CTE test.
“Researchers have been following over 300 former players — in addition to Alzheimer’s patients who did not play the sport — since its first phase began in 2015,” Holder wrote. “Now they’re looking for patterns to emerge in testing.
“Clarity from such a test might inform how doctors treat current or former players experiencing symptoms associated with CTE.”
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That could help former players like Larry Johnson, who first said nearly a decade ago that he believes he has CTE.
Johnson, 46, was a workhorse when playing for the Chiefs from 2003-09. He carried the ball 752 times in the 2005-06 seasons and also caught 74 passes in that span. That’s 826 touches in just two years, including 457 during the 2005 season — second-most in NFL history.
“My short-term memory was so bad, I could literally go into a store and 30 minutes later come out and not know where my car is parked,” Johnson told ESPN. “Or, I’m driving and I just get blanked and I don’t even know where I’m going or know where I’m at.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2026 at 9:01 AM with the headline “Former Chiefs star believes he has CTE at age 46. A test could be coming soon.”
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