Researchers say former NFL linebacker Fred McNeill was the first living person identified with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
A case study was published this week and Dr. Bennet Omalu, credited with discovering the disease in football players, confirmed to CNN's Nadia Kounang that the unnamed subject in the report was McNeill, who died in 2015.
Only a brain exam after death can confirm the diagnosis of the degenerative brain disease. However, the presence of CTE was first discovered in 2012 through an experimental brain scan that revealed the presence of tau, a signature protein of CTE.
McNeill played for 12 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, from 1974-1985.
