Research group seeks NFLers to participate in CTE study

A research group believes it's on the way to a discovery that will help identify chronic traumatic encephalopathy in living people, and it's enlisting the aid of NFL players.

Exosome Sciences hopes to discover biomarkers that will help confirm the presence of CTE in living patients, according to Kent Somers of AZCentral.com. The disease can currently only be diagnosed at autopsy.

The group is asking former and current NFLers to donate small amounts of blood, urine, and saliva for an approved research study that gets underway Wednesday.

"This is ground zero for the launch of this really important study," said former NFL player and broadcaster Solomon Wilcots, who sits on a "players council" for the company. "If there was ever a time to have a call to action, this would be it."

The group is looking for about 200 participants.