Matt Hasselbeck sounds off on groundbreaking efforts to find living diagnosis of CTE

After playing football for over two decades, ex-NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is doing his part and trying to help find a living diagnosis of CTE.

Recently, Hasselbeck spent a couple of days at Boston University to undergo a battery of scans and tests for a study conducted by Michael Alosco. These tests will help determine how much the collisions from his football playing career affected his brain. Alosco is also hoping to expand the study and open it to hundreds of participants in various locations.

“They need guys like me. They need people who are feeling good to step up to the plate and volunteer,” he said via ESPN. “I played quarterback, so I didn’t take some of the hits that a lot of my teammates took.

“But the guys who were blocking for me, or playing special teams, or trying to get the ball back for me on defense, I wanted to do something. They had my back, so in a way I’d like to have their back,” he added.

Hasselbeck has always been an advocate for “making the game safer.” He hopes his participation in the study can lead to a change.

Over 100 former NFL players have been diagnosed with CTE. Currently, it can only be diagnosed after death. Recently, the late Marshawn Kneeland was posthumously diagnosed. It can cause memory loss, depression, violent mood swings, and other cognitive and behavioral issues, as ESPN notes, but these symptoms are not exclusive to CTE.

Hasselbeck played 18 years in the NFL after being drafted in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft out of Boston College. During his NFL career, he played for the Green Bay Packers, the Seattle Seahawks, the Tennessee Titans, and the Indianapolis Colts.

His most notable stop was in Seattle. With the Seahawks, he made three Pro Bowls. He has since been inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor.

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