ROCK HILL, SC –
A coroner will release test results Tuesday for a degenerative brain disease in the former NFL player suspected of fatally shooting six people in South Carolina before killing himself in April.
The family of former professional soccer player Phillip Adams agreed shortly after his death to have his brain tested for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the degenerative disease associated with head and trauma injuries Activity has been shown to cause a wide range of symptoms including mood swings. and memory loss.
Authorities said on April 7, Phillip Adams killed Dr. Robert Lesslie of Rock Hill; his wife, Barbara; their two grandchildren, 9-year-old Adah Lesslie and 5-year-old Noah Lesslie; and two Lesslie home-based HVAC technicians, James Lewis and Robert Shook, both 38 years old. Police later found Adams with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
CTE, which can only be diagnosed through an autopsy, has been found in former military members, soccer players and boxers and others who have suffered repeated head injuries. A recent study found signs of the debilitating illness in 110 of 111 NFL players whose brains were examined.
Adams, 32, played in 78 NFL games for six teams in six seasons. He joined the San Francisco 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round drafter outside of South Carolina State, and although he rarely started, he has gone on to play for New England, Seattle, Oakland and New York Jets before ending his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
As a rookie, Adams suffered a severe ankle injury and never played for the 49ers again. Then, with the Raiders, he suffered two concussions in three games in 2012.
He will not be eligible for the test as part of a broad agreement between the federation and former players over sustained concussion-related injuries, because he has not yet retired in 2014.
Adams’ sister previously told USA Today that her brother’s “mental health has deteriorated rapidly and horribly” in recent years, and that the signs are “extremely disturbing” for the family. of mental illness, including temper tantrums and neglect of personal hygiene.
