SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Former NFL player Sergio Brown, who was arrested in his 73-year-old mother’s killing, is in ‘crisis’ and may have been showing symptoms similar to that of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), says an expert.
The 35-year-old Brown was taken into custody in San Diego on Tuesday, October 10 while "re-entering" the United States after hiding in Mexico, the Maywood Police Department stated in a press release.
He is awaiting extradition to Maywood, a suburb of Chicago, to face the murder charge. Sergio’s arrest came nearly four weeks after he and his mother Myrtle Brown was reported missing by his family on September 16.
On the same day, Myrtle's body was found by a creek near the Maywood, Ill., home she shared with Sergio. Following the discovery, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office asserted that her death is being investigated as a homicide and that she died as a result of "multiple injuries due to assault."
Does Sergio Brown show symptoms of CTE?
Authorities discovered Myrtle’s body near her residence but found no trace of Brown until he reemerged in a bizarre video posted on Instagram.
The video in question was shared on an Instagram Story from an account named "intplayerwithapassport," which appears to be associated with the former NFL player.
In the stories, Brown, who played for teams like the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, and Jacksonville Jaguars, claimed that he was under the impression that his mother was on vacation and accused both the FBI and the Maywood Police Department of kidnapping him.
"They kidnapped me twice from home. The Maywood Police Department," he says in the video before, adding "It had to be the FBI or the Maywood police. I thought my f–kin’ momma was on vacation."
Karen Kinzle, president of the Patrick Risha CTE Awareness Foundation, reflected on Brown's peculiar behavior, claiming that he is "obviously in crisis" and exhibiting symptoms of CTE, a neurodegenerative condition frequently linked to repeated head trauma often observed in athletes.
“Yes, This is a heartbreaking story for the dear mom who was trying to help him and poor Sergio is obviously in crisis and scared. His brain is failing him beyond his own ability to comprehend what is going on around him,” Kinzle told MEAWW.
“Many family members of those who were diagnosed with CTE describe schizophrenic delusions and paranoia. Sergio is showing these symptoms,” she continued.
Did Sergio Brown really kill his mother?
After arresting Brown, the Maywood Police Department noted that he would soon be charged with first-degree murder in connection to the killing of his mother.
When asked if a person diagnosed with CTE could cause harm to others, Kinzle stated that several patients have "harmed family members," possibly because they were "living in an alternate reality."
“So far, you can only diagnose "probable CTE" among the living. Scientists are working on a clinical diagnosis, but sadly that has yet to be accepted by the medical community at large.”
“Many athletes diagnosed post-mortem with CTE have died by suicide or drug overdose or through unexplainable tragedies. There are some who have harmed family members. It can be a concern because they may be in an alternate reality,” said Kinzle, who founded the Patrick Risha CTE Awareness Foundation in memory of her son, Patrick Risha, who passed away from CTE in September 2014.
The expert continued by stating several CTE symptoms including tremors, tripping, poor vision, muscle spasms, slurred speech, hearing issues, digestion, and poor judgment.
“The brain operates every little thing in the body. Symptoms can be tremors, tripping, poor vision, muscle spasms, slurred speech, hearing issues, digestion, and in other words, the whole autonomic nervous system can go haywire, not to mention thinking and emotions.”
“People with CTE have trouble sleeping and go through life exhausted with poor judgment and in those cases, anything can happen,” she said.
Why do most NFL players get diagnosed with CTE?
Brown is apparently one of many NFL players, who have been diagnosed with CTE in the past. A 2023 report by the Boston University CTE Center revealed that CTE has been found in 345 of 376 deceased player’s brains.
Rick Arrington, Ed Lothamer, Junior Seau, Chris Henry, Ken Stabler, Dave Duerson, and Aaron Hernandez, were among many deceased NFL players, who were diagnosed with CTE.
Kinzle noted that most NFL players get diagnosed with CTE because of their long history of suffering head injuries.
“Anyone can get CTE if they have a history of repetitive hitting. It can be from sports military service or even domestic abuse. CTE is like smoking. The more hits you take, and the longer you take those hits, the greater the probability for brain damage and CTE,” she said.
“CTE has been found in many high school and college athletes. Those playing professionally usually have a very long history of hitting and in the NFL the force of hits gets greater. NFL players may have a history of over 15,000 hits in their lifetime which sets the stage for brain damage and CTE,” the expert continued.
Kinzle further emphasized several measures that the NFL could take to prevent the growing rate of CTE among athletes.
“First of all, the NFL and the NCAA need to start taking care of the players that they have already banged up. Taking care of Sergio was probably put on his mom’s shoulders and I am sure she was suffering trying to deal with an unwiring brain,” she noted.
“The NFL should be the adult in the room and push for the elimination of tackle football for children. They started a flag program because they saw the decline in parents willing to subject their children to 500+ hits in a season. Children’s brains are still developing and fragile and they need protection. Eliminating 6 or more years of youth tackling would lower but not eliminate the chances of CTE,” the expert added.
