Ex-NFL Star Larry Johnson Convinced He’s Living With CTE

In a recent interview, the former running back revealed his “demons” to the Washington Post.

Larry Johnson poses for his 2009 NFL headshot at photo day in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by NFL Photos)
Larry Johnson poses for his 2009 NFL headshot at photo day in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by NFL Photos)
NFL

Former Chiefs running back Larry Johnson is only 38-years-old, but he believes that he’s living with the “demons” of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which is the degenerative brain disease connected to over 100 ex-football players. Caused by repeated blows to the head, Johnson says he sees the CTE in the cycle of his moods — from enraged and withdrawn — and his desire to hurt himself or others, always just a moment away. There’s issues with memory, too. Though his 7-year-old daughter Jaylen keeps him grounded, she can’t bring back his increasingly fuzzy recollections, that in some cases have disappeared entirely.

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