Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN Images
Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN Images(BALTIMORE) — Two days after a medical study that found extremely high rates of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel decided to retire.
Urschel is a doctoral candidate in applied mathematics, and the 26-year-old made the abrupt decision to conclude his career ahead of the team’s first full-team practice of training camp.
The report released on Tuesday showed that 99 percent of deceased NFL players’ brains that were donated to scientific research showed signs of CTE. A team source told ESPN that Urschel’s decision to retire was related to that study.
In a post to Twitter, Urschel said he was “extremely grateful to the Ravens, and blessed to have been able to play the game I love at the highest level.”
— John Urschel (@JohnCUrschel) July 27, 2017
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