Ex-San Francisco 49ers draftee suspected in S.C. shooting will have brain tested for CTE
Former NFL player Phillip Adams, who has been identified as the suspect in the shooting of six people in York County, South Carolina, will have his brain tested for CTE as part of the autopsy procedures, per the York County Coroner.
Adams fired as many as 20 shots Wednesday when he killed five people and wounded a sixth after allegedly forcing his way into the home of prominent Rock Hill doctor Robert Lesslie. Following the shootings, authorities found Adams dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Sabrina Gast, York County Coroner, said that she spoke with the Adams family for approval to have the procedure done. Medical University of South Carolina Charleston will be performing the autopsy, Gast said. The coroner’s office will be working with Boston University on the CTE study.
It’s expected to take months before the results of the testing are available.
Adams, 32, played for the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets in a six-year career that began in 2010.
He was drafted in the seventh round in 2010 by the 49ers. He mostly played special teams for the 49ers before moving on to the Patriots and Seahawks in 2011.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is defined by the Boston University CTE Center as “a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma.” It has been seen in people as young as 17, however, symptoms do not typically appear until years after head impacts begin.
Adams played in the NFL for six years after a four-year college career at S.C. State. During the 2012 season with the Oakland Raiders, he suffered two concussions over a three-game stretch, which, combined with a groin injury, eventually ended his season. However, the number of concussions a person has is not directly related to CTE.
“It’s important to understand that repetitive hits to the head are best what correlate with your risk of CTE, and the severity of CTE,” Dr. Robert Cantu, Concussion Legacy Foundation medical director and a co-founder of the BU CTE Center, told The Observer.
“Concussions count, and unquestionably we’re probably going to find they count more than one sub-concussive blow, but you can’t correlate concussions with your risk of CTE. (It’s) the total brain trauma that somebody takes.”
The Boston University CTE Center has been the leader in researching the disease. The Center has been involved in studying a number of former NFL players’ brains, including results released in 2017 that showed 110 of 111 deceased NFL players studied had CTE.
The CTE testing as part of an autopsy in York County is not normally part of an autopsy, Gast said.
Gast has been coroner since 2008. This is the first CTE research package she has ordered as coroner. But in this case, where there have been reports of previous brain concerns, Gast said she believed the CTE testing is appropriate in this case.
“Our office believes it is best to do the CTE research in this matter,” Gast said.
