Ex-NFL QB Wounded in Suicide Attempt

Reports say that former NFL quarterback, 50 year old  Erik Kramer, injured himself in a failed suicided attempt Tuesday night. 

The incident took place in a motel in Calabasas at around 8 pm. Police were called to the motel for a welfare check and when they arrived they found Kramer with a non-life threatening gunshot wound. Kramer’s wife, Marshawn, says her husband tried to kill himself and had been suffering from depression, which she believes was a result of his time in the NFL. “He is a very amazing man, a beautiful soul, but he has suffered depression since he was with the Bears,” Marshawn Kramer says. “I can promise you he is not the same man I married.”

This wouldn’t be the first time an NFL athlete has suffered psychological issues from playing football. You may recall Former NFL stars Junior Seau and Dave Duerson were diagnosed with the brain condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after they committed suicide. Then there’s Jovan Belcher of the KC Chiefs who killed his girlfriend then himself in 2012. He was also posthumously diagnosed with CTE. 

CTE is noted to have been seen in players who have sustained concussions, sometimes multiple concussions over the course of their careers.

CTE has been most commonly found in professional athletes participating in American Football , Ice Hockey, Professional Wrestling and other contact sports who have experienced repetitive brain trauma. Individuals with CTE may show symptoms of dementia, such as memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression, which generally appear years or many decades after the trauma.

Because CTE can only be diagnosed postmortem, it’s unknown whether or not Erik Kramer is suffering from this condition, however it’s quite likely and that is why the NFL is slowly trying to take extra measures when it comes to protecting their players from concussions.