Dr. Bennet Omalu spoke with People.com this week and revealed that he believes O.J. Simpson is suffering from the degenerative brain disease CTE.
CTE is brought on by repeated concussions and many athletes including high profile NFL players have died from the disease.
Dr. Omalu, who was played by Will Smith in the movie Concussion, said this:
“I would bet my medical license that he has CTE,” Omalu said. “Given his profile, I think it’s not an irresponsible conclusion to suspect he has CTE.”
It was also reported that O.J. Simpson considered using a concussion related defense strategy during his trial for armed robbery in 2012. The argument would have stated that a new trial was warranted due to the effects of CTE. Simpson’s attorney prepared a case file that read:
“numerous blows to [his] head” during his football career caused several concussions, which led him down a dark path that eventually led to the kidnapping and armed robbery.”
However, during the trial, O.J. did not use the concussion defense and ultimately was convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison. It will be interesting to see if the recent publicity from Will Smith’s movie will spur O.J. to take a second look at the concussion defense he once considered.