Concussion Group Says Ex-NFL Player Bubba Smith Had CTE
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
BOSTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The Concussion Legacy Foundation says former NFL defensive end and movie actor Bubba Smith was diagnosed with the brain disease CTE by researchers after his death.
Smith died in 2011 at 66. He's one of 90 former NFL players diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy since 2008 at a brain bank affiliated with Veteran Affairs, Boston University and the foundation. Out of four stages of the disease, the foundation says Smith had stage 3 CTE.
Smith was the first pick in the 1967 NFL draft after a career at Michigan State, which led him to the College Football Hall of Fame. He was a part of the Colts team that beat the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V and played a total of nine seasons for the Colts, Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers.
After football the lineman became an actor and is best known for his role as Moses Hightower in the "Police Academy" movies.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)