Warren Sapp says he suffers from memory loss, pledges to donate brain

Warren Sapp announced in a video for the Players' Tribune on Tuesday that he will donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation after his death.

The Hall of Fame defensive lineman, who retired from the NFL after the 2007 season, explained that his motivation is leaving the game in a better position than when he arrived.

Still just 44 years old, Sapp detailed his struggles with memory loss.

There's no way any of us wanna really admit that we can't remember how to get home, or a grocery list that the wife has given us, or how to go pick up our kids to the school, or whatever it may be. You try to say 'alright, I'm gonna get a little more sleep, maybe it's something I did last night, maybe something I drank' or, whatever it is. You try to find a reason that it's not my brain. That I'm not deteriorating right before my own eyes. It's the most frightening feeling, but it's also a very weakening feeling because you feel like a child. I need help. I need somebody to help me find something that I could've found with my eyes closed, in the dead of night, half asleep.

Sapp says the decision to donate his brain was made after he received an email from former NFL running back Fred Willis, which included quotes from league owners denying a connection between football and long-term brain issues.

The former first-round pick played 13 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders. He earned seven Pro Bowl appearances over that stretch and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.