Is there a link between CTE brain disease and violent crime?
When Noah Green, a 25-year-old with no known history of violence, crashed his car into a barricade at the Capitol building in Washington DC, killing one police officer, before lunging at others with a knife, his own family were grappling for answers.
“My heart just sank,” his mother, Mazie Green, tells me. It was a murder, which, on the face of it, had nothing to do with American football.
But three years on and speaking publicly for the first time since that day, Mazie says she now believes it has everything to do with American football.
Noah Green’s car after he rammed into a barricade at the Capitol building in Washington DC
Green was shot dead by responding police, and in the days after the killing the FBI recommended that Mazie submit Noah’s brain to be analysed.
The diagnosis came back months later, indicating Green had stage one Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, more commonly known as CTE.
It’s a brain disease caused by repetitive blows to the head and it afflicts participants of contact sport, including American football. Symptoms include aggression, paranoia and problems controlling impulses.
Noah Green with mother Mazie and his father
Noah and Mazie
“Noah took big hits,” Mazie says. At Alleghany High School in rural Virginia, Green had played in defence and was voted most valuable player and he later played for Christopher Newport University.
Teammates recall him being dependable and good-natured but Mazie says she noticed changes after he suffered several head injuries.
“He wanted to be tough, to prove himself,” Mazie says, “But there were changes. He would start wearing blankets around his head and I thought it was a teenage thing, but it was because he was so sensitive to the light. Then he would lose his keys and he forgot how to cook, prepare his meals.
“After that, he started with these really bad headaches. One day he said ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me, mum, I’ve lost 20 pounds…. I feel like I need to leave. I’ve got to get out of the country. They’re going to kill me, the FBI, they’re going to kill me.’
“He was paranoid.”
Mazie Green
Officer William Evans, the police officer who Noah Green killed, left behind two young children. I ask Mazie if she has any message for his family.
“Officer Evans should not have died that day,” she says, “Noah should not have died that day. Someone has to take the responsibility for telling parents what to do if something’s just not quite right with those kids that are out there playing football for entertainment.”
Shannon Terranova, the former spouse of Officer Evans and mother of his two young children, said: “I want to be mindful of all who are impacted by this real-life horror; but it is difficult for me to comprehend any rationalisation of what happened to Billy and the events that led up to his death. I appreciate the efforts in bringing awareness to the long-term implications of bodily trauma caused by sports injuries. However, nothing can justify what Billy’s co-workers and family experienced, saw, and felt on April 2 2021, and every day since.”
Christopher Newport University declined to comment on Noah Green’s case. Alleghany High School did not respond to Sky News’s request for comment.
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How CTE is diagnosed
The casket of US Capitol Police officer William “Billy” Evans. Pic: AP
The question over whether CTE is linked to violent crime has come to the fore after numerous incidents of violent ex-football players.
Former San Francisco 49ers star Phillip Adams shot dead six people in an explosion of violence in 2021.
He murdered doctor Robert Lesslie, his wife, Barbara Lesslie, and two of their grandchildren, Adah, 9, and Noah, 5 at their home in South Carolina.
He also killed James Lewis and Robert Shook, who were working on an air conditioning unit at the house. Analysis of Adams’ brain showed he had severe CTE.
Phillip Adams. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Kellen Winslow, another former NFL player, was convicted of multiple rapes in 2021.
His lawyer argued for his sentence to be reduced because of what he says was head trauma suffered on the football field. That potential mitigating factor was rejected by a judge.
Kellen Winslow. Pic: AP
Winslow at his sentencing hearing in March 2021. Pic: AP
Most experts say it is hard to say definitively what motivates someone to commit a crime, but the symptoms CTE causes could all contribute. More research into the causes of CTE and what factors might make some people more susceptible is under way.
Sky News was given access to the national sports brain bank in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where former professional and amateur American footballers are being urged to donate their brains for study.
Inside the histology laboratory, Dr Julia Kofler slices open a brain with a knife to show me the cross-section.
Brains examined by Dr Julia Kofler for CTE
It is impossible to diagnose CTE with the naked eye so she takes a tiny sample of the brain tissue and loads it onto a slide so it can be analysed under the microscope.
I ask if she thinks there is a link between CTE and violent crime. “It’s really difficult to draw any conclusions about what motivates someone to commit a crime based just on their pathology,” she says, “but we certainly know that neurodegenerative diseases can cause all sorts of different behavioural changes and changes in executive function and judgement, so it certainly could have contributed.”
Dr Julia Kofler
‘We watched him lose himself’
Karen Kinzle Zegel is one of those fighting for more research. Her son, Patrick Risha, had CTE and died by suicide aged 32. He had played American football throughout his childhood and at university.
“We watched him over 10 years, sadly lose himself, lose his dignity,” she says, “He was paranoid, he was argumentative.
“One time there was an incident with him and he said a homeless guy attacked him in Pittsburgh and he broke his hand punching this person. The rage he had was definitely scary.”
Photos of Patrick Risha
Patrick Risha had CTE and died aged 32 after taking his own life
Through her organisation Stop CTE, Karen is campaigning for the brains of those who commit mass violence to be analysed for traumatic injury.
“Every time we’re looking at the symptoms like ‘they lost a job, they, broke up with their girlfriend’.
“Everybody wants to know why, why would someone take another person’s life? But if you’ve dealt with somebody whose brain became unwired you see the lack of empathy. They don’t care about other people, sadly.
“We’re not going back to the root cause, which could be a damaged brain.”
Patrick Risha’s mother, Karen Kinzle Zegel
Concerns about brain injuries have contributed to the growth of flag football, a lesser contact sport which means fewer big hits and not an obvious danger.
But the popularity of the NFL as a spectator sport is enduring. Last week’s Super Bowl final was the most-watched TV event in American history.
But for its stars, the damage may already been done. The human cost of the richest sport league in the world is far too difficult to count.
Sky News contacted the NFL for comment about our report. In response, the NFL provided details of the funding they are giving into CTE-related research, mental health support and the physical safety measures they say they are taking in the sport.
Which global leader has been the most frequent visitor to the Oval Office during Donald Trump’s first year back in power?
Not a head of state. But Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA.
The boss of world football’s governing body was back in the White House this week, and sport wasn’t even on the agenda.
And yet it still came back to football and today’s World Cup draw – even after the signing of a peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mr Infantino was picked out in the audience as Mr Trump diverted from trumpeting ending another conflict to boasting about World Cup ticket sales.
Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino stand next to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy. Pic: Reuters
“A great leader in sports and a great gentleman,” the US president said.
So it’s certainly not just Mr Infantino dishing out the flattery. But there is plenty of that, aligning himself with the MAGA agenda going back into the first term.
“Together we will make not only America great again,” he said in January, “but also the entire world”.
There is often bemusement when Mr Infantino pops up wherever Mr Trump is – from a Saudi-backed financial conference in Miami to an official visit to Saudi Arabia and the Gaza peace summit in Egypt.
There isn’t a non-American with such prominent proximity to the presidency. And it’s being used to shortcut decision-making for the World Cup, with direct access to the most powerful man on Earth to help smooth the tournament’s delivery.
Mr Infantino knows how to chime with Mr Trump’s talking points, recently telling critics to lay off the president because he has a mandate from winning the 2024 election.
“We should all support what he is doing because I think he is doing pretty good,” Mr Infantino said.
Pic: AP
For a man who was largely known a decade ago for drawing balls for the Champions League, the ascent to the peak of power has been rapid and only made possible by scandals knocking out presumptive leaders.
It will be a draw on Friday that cements this unlikeliest of bonds when the World Cup schedule is determined at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
So much has been done to flatter Mr Trump, to pander to his passions.
The one thing he craves more than anything is a peace prize.
And after missing out on the foremost, illustrious Nobel version – despite an endorsement from Mr Infantino – FIFA created its own to hand out on Friday without any announced process for nominations or selection.
And if there is one song to indulge Mr Trump with it is the unlikely YMCA. The 1970s disco group Village People have been hired for the draw ceremony.
Expect the Trump dance. Expect the unexpected. Expect uneasy moments as Mr Trump takes centre stage alongside Mr Infantino.
How freewheeling will the presidential address become?
And is it all too political, even for a football organisation rarely untouched by politics?
Pic: AP
It has created awkward moments when Mr Trump has been disparaging towards Democrat-run cities attacked for not being safe.
“Gianni, can I say we will move (matches)?” Mr Trump asked on live TV in the Oval Office.
“I don’t think you’re going to have this problem. But we’re going to move the event to some place where it’s going to be appreciated and safe.”
Usually FIFA dismisses questions about moving World Cup venues this late on, but Mr Infantino responded in part: “Safety and security is the number one priority.”
Usually, FIFA would be working to ensure all fans can attend its tournament, but the governing body is not dissenting against the block on visitors from Iran and Haiti.
The rhetoric of Mr Trump – framed around security – collides with FIFA’s idealism about uniting the world through football, with everyone being welcome.
And this is not just about the US. For the first time this is a World Cup being co-hosted by three nations, even if Mr Infantino has paid more visits to just one of them.
Read more from Sky News:
88-year-old veteran given £1.2m to help him retire
Trump ‘never rules anything out’ to ensure World Cup’s safety
But the leaders of Canada and Mexico are due at the draw here in DC.
They’ll hope the football ceremony provides some respite from Mr Trump’s threats of a military strike on Mexico over drugs or deepening the trade war with Canada.
There is a peace prize to award, after all.
A celebration of all things Donald Trump.
And at some point, the teams will discover they will be drawn to play at the tournament next summer.
Because with Gianni Infantino it has to come back to football, the whole purpose of his role.
Even if his political alliances can seem more prominent than what happens on the pitch.
US
Ed Bambas: 88-year-old veteran who worked full-time at supermarket given £1.2m to help him retire
An 88-year-old US army veteran who works full time at a grocery store to make ends meet will receive over $1.7m (£1.2m) to help him retire.
Ed Bambas went viral after Australian influencer Samuel Weidenhofer shared a video of Bambas opening up about his financial struggles on social media.
In the video, which has received over 269,000 likes on Facebook, Bambas explains how he retired from General Motors in 1999, but lost his pension in 2012 after the company went bankrupt.
He also lost his healthcare coverage – just as his wife was sick. She died seven years ago.
Bambas was left with just $10,000 (£7,500) of his life insurance.
He tears up as he says: “So I sold my house, sold the property I had, we made it through.”
Weidenhofer, who uses his platform to help raise money for people in need, set up a GoFundMe page after speaking with Bambas.
His son Michael said he didn’t know his dad had gone viral until he received messages from friends and family.
Speaking to Sky’s sister company, NBC News, Michael said that his dad had lost himself after his mother’s death.
“Right after my mum passed away, I’d go over to the house and I’d find him basically walking around in circles, not knowing what to do with himself.”
He added that: “He took care of my mum for almost 10 years as her primary caretaker.”
Michael explained that his dad started looking for work due to mounting medical bills and that he had been working eight-hour shifts, five days a week, for five years.
Read more from Sky News:
Trump pardons Democrat congressman charged in bribery case
White House Christmas decorations revealed
Pic: GoFundMe
Meijer, the Michigan grocery store where Ed Bambas works, said he was a valued team member who connects with customers and adds joy and warmth to the store.
The store said it would offer additional support to Bambas considering recent events.
Weidenhofer says he plans to present Bambas with the money at a ceremony later today.
His son said the money raised means his dad can “start living and doing things for himself.”
“I don’t know how to thank everyone for what they’re doing for my dad. It’s just amazing.”
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