Posted by Michael David Smith on May 3, 2012, 9:38 AM EST 
 
 Boston University’s Center for Traumatic Encephalopathy has studied the brains of many deceased football players and almost always found injuries consistent with repeated blows to the head. Now the Center wants to examine the brain of Junior Seau. 
 
 Peter King reports that the researchers in Boston are attempting to obtain Seau’s brain. 
 
 The death of Seau, who killed himself with a gunshot to the chest, has reminded many of the death of former NFL player Dave Duerson, who also killed himself with a gunshot to the chest and who left a note asking for his brain to be examined to see whether the depression that plagued him late in life could be linked to brain damage he suffered on the football field. The Boston researchers determined that Duerson did, in fact, show signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma. 
 
 One of the rather shocking developments in football over the last couple years has been the way the words “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” have seeped into the lexicon. It’s long been accepted that if you follow football you know that ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament and MCL stands for medial collateral ligament. Knowing that CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy feels different, feels like something we can’t just accept as part of the cost of doing business in the NFL. 
 
 If the Boston researchers find that Seau suffered from CTE, and if they believe that CTE precipitated Seau’s suicide, that could be a watershed moment in the way we view the sport, and its effect on those who play it. This is research that should be done, even if it reveals information that makes all of us very uncomfortable about the game we love. ||||| Story highlights They join over 1,500 other players who claim that the NFL hid concussion dangers 
 
 The NFL has denied these allegations 
 
 "We weren't aware of the long-term ramifications," a former NFL player says 
 
 More than 100 former professional football players, including former Atlanta Falcons Jamal Anderson, Chris Doleman, and O.J. Santiago, are adding their names a growing list of players suing the NFL. 
 
 They join more than 1,500 other players who claim that the National Football League hid the dangers of concussions from them. 
 
 The latest lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta by attorney Mike McGlamry, states that the NFL "repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury." 
 
 It goes on to assert that the organization failed "to take reasonable steps necessary to protect players from devastating head injuries. Moreover, the NFL has downplayed and misrepresented the issues and misled players concerning the risks associated with concussions." 
 
 Regarding these claims, the NFL has repeatedly stated that player safety is a priority. The NFL has said that "any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit." 
 
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 Similar suits against the NFL have already been consolidated for trial in Philadelphia, but a trial date has not been set. 
 
 The filing cites recent scientific studies that have found a connection between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease that results in Alzheimer's-like symptoms, including memory loss and mood swings. 
 
 CTE results only from repeated blows to the head, and can be diagnosed only after death. According to the lawsuit, 12 cases of CTE have been detected in deceased NFL players. 
 
 Former Green Bay Packer Dorsey Levens, who McGlamry also represents, says that when he played in the mid-1990s, he had no idea of the consequences the game could have. He filed suit in December 2011. 
 
 At the time of the filing, Levens told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "I wasn't worried at all, you know, because that's the way you play the game of football. We weren't aware of the long-term ramifications of concussions like we are today. So I didn't worry about it when I played."
– Did Junior Seau have football-related brain damage? The Boston University Center for Traumatic Encephalopathy wants to look at his brain to find out, Peter King reports on Twitter today. The Center has studied the brains of a number of deceased football players, and almost every time it's found evidence of repeated head trauma, according to Pro Football Talk, which suspects that a Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy diagnosis on Seau would be a "watershed moment." As if to underscore the news, more than 100 ex-NFL players today jumped onto a lawsuit against the NFL alleging that it "repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury," and failed to "take reasonable steps necessary to protect players" from them, CNN reports. A total of more than 1,500 players have now joined on the suit.