For a guy who loved a good party, it’s hard to imagine Ken Stabler ever thought he’d be crashing one this week.
SAN FRANCISCO — For a guy who loved a good party, it’s hard to imagine Ken Stabler ever thought he’d be crashing one this week.
Not at this Super Bowl, the 50th anniversary version that has been carefully choreographed to be a celebration of all things NFL. Not in the Bay Area, where Stabler has long been a cult hero of sorts for leading the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl win 39 years ago.
The Snake might have liked all the attention, had he lived long enough to be here. There wasn’t much he didn’t like in his life, which ended last year at the age of 69.
The official cause was colon cancer. Turns out that Stabler’s brain was scrambled, too. He had the brain disease CTE.
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The news led to some awkward conversations Wednesday between reporters and players, both of whom would have rather been talking about the matchups between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. The biggest medical news this week was supposed to be Thomas Davis’ attempt to play linebacker for Carolina with a broken arm.
Researchers at Boston University told The New York Times that CTE has been discovered in the posthumous study of 90 of the 94 former NFL players they have examined.
The disease, which has been linked to repeated brain trauma, causes everything from memory loss to dementia. It can only be diagnosed after death, as was the case with Hall of Famer Junior Seau, who committed suicide at the age of 43.
“We’ve now found CTE in former NFL players who played every position except kicker,” said Ann McKee, a professor of neurology at Boston University who is part of the study.
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin said Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson will return to Madison this spring to give the school’s commencement address.
Wilson spent his final college season at Wisconsin after starring for three seasons at North Carolina State. Wilson will speak to graduates at Camp Randall Stadium on May 14.
Note
• With anxiety heightened three months after terrorists struck a stadium amid a bloody series of attacks in and around Paris, local and federal law-enforcement officials said there was no credible threat to Super Bowl 50 and that several measures, many of them not visible to the public, would protect it.