Does A Gay Football Player Have What It Takes To Develop CTE?

Developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy takes years of rigorous training. Daily hits to the head. Consistent concussions. Never missing a trip to the ER. Only a select few NFL players have ever achieved this monumental feat, none of whom have been openly gay. So, can former Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib do the impossible and become the first openly gay player to suffer from CTE?

While there have been numerous gay NFL players, not one has ever accomplished a CTE diagnosis. Dr. Jerry Banes, a neurologist specializing in homosexual brain trauma at Prager University, said that while Nassib may be gay, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be the first gay NFL player to develop CTE.

“Anyone can be gay, but not every gay person like Carl Nassib can just get CTE. A gay man such as Mr. Nassib will need to endure repeated violent blows to the brain, shaking the frontal cortex to guarantee successful head trauma,” Dr. Banes said. “It would likely take years of training to push the gay human body to this extreme.”

Several brain scouts have said Nassib has the potential to join the NFL’s neurodegenerative elite.

“You would never know he’s gay from the way he plays the game,” said Damien Hill, a CTE scout for the Cleveland Clinic. “Think about all the young gay people he could inspire to obtain other neurological disorders if he could just develop a few dozen structural lesions in the brain by age 30.” 

Although CTE can unfortunately only be identified through autopsy, Dr. Banes hopes Nassib can still achieve a storybook ending, noting that if his brain can sustain enough atrophy in the hippocampus, Nassib may have what it takes to be the first openly gay football player to develop ALS.