One day after former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was found hanging in his Massachusetts prison cell, his family has decided to donate his brain to science.
CTE researchers at Boston University will study Hernandez’s brain to gain further knowledge and insight into the degenerative brain disease that could have contributed to Hernandez’s alleged suicide.
Hernandez’s attorney Jose Baez has been vocal about his suspicions regarding his client’s death and insists that he “doesn’t have confidence” in the Boston Medical Examiners Office to study Hernandez’s brain. Baez also shared with WCVB 5 that the ME office is holding on to the brain illegally and has not relinquished it to researchers.
CTE is believed to have been a major contributing factor in the suicide of former NFL linebacker Junior Seau.