Cookie Gilchrist, the legendary Buffalo Bills running back, suffered from significant brain damage associated with repeated head trauma, researchers in Boston have determined. Gilchrist, who starred for the Bills from 1962 through 1964, died at age 75 in January, and at his request, his family donated his brain to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University. Researchers there found that Gilchrist had a severe case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neuro-degenerative disease known to cause cognitive decline and behavioral abnormalities. Gilchrist's disease was in Stage IV, the most advanced category, said Dr. Robert Stern, co-director of the center and professor of neurology and neurosurgery at BU. Gilchrist, who played from 1956 through 1967, is the latest in a growing line of former professional athletes who have been found to have suffered significant, long-term effects of head trauma. Source: Buffalo News
