Nowinski to research former NFL player Dave Duerson’s brain

The death of former Chicago Bears player Dave Duerson has been ruled a suicide from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner. 

His death has been ruled a suicide.

According to NBC Chicago, Duerson asked that his brain be left for NFL research, emphasizing he wanted the “left side” checked out in particular. 


Former WWE superstar Chris Nowinski, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine, received a call from a friend of the Duerson family Thursday night. He made arrangements to have the brain prepped in time for research and sent to Boston University.


“I’m under the impression the brain will be studied.”

Nowinski’s research of Duerson’s brain will take 3 to 6 months to determine the presence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or what used to be known as “punch drunk.”