Artie Burns is just 22 years old, but the Steelers cornerback is convinced he's living with CTE.
Burns told MMQB in a roundtable discussion that if a diagnosis in living patients existed he would "definitely" suffer from the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head. The links between football and CTE have been extensively debated and studied in recent years, but a diagnosis almost always occurs post-mortem.
"I definitely know I have it. I’m going to [test positive for] CTE," Burns said. "I don’t need a test. Is it going to tell me how much I have? We play a physical sport, man. Humans are not made to run into each other."
Evanston's NorthShore University HealthSystem neurosurgeon Dr. Julian Bailes claimed in the scientific journal "Neurosurgery," in November that researchers have the ability to identify chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living patients. Boston University CTE Center’s Ann McKee thinks a test for living patients could be implemented in five years.
MMQB asked the roundtable consisting of seven NFL players about the ramifications of a test for living players. If they were to positive test to a CTE test, Michael Bennett and Kirk Cousins said they would retire.
Former NFL RB and Heisman finalist Larry Johnson told The Washington Post Tuesday he believes he is also living with CTE.
Johnson described the internal "demons" that push him toward rooftop decks and urge him to "jump" as he regularly struggles with anxiety, paranoia, mood swings and forgetfulness that make him prone to self-destructive impulses.