After a year-long battle with prostate cancer, ex-NFL player O.J. Simpson died on April 10, and his family announced soon after via social media. According to reports, the late actor’s body “is expected to be cremated” in Las Vegas, however, his brain will not be put up for research contrary to recent requests. “O.J. Simpson’s brain will be incinerated, not investigated,” The New York Post clarified.
It is a common practice that the brains of deceased professional footballers are put up for CTE research, however, Simpson’s longtime attorney and executor Malcolm LaVergne told the outlet, “With OJ everything’s wild, but I’ve been getting calls from medical centers that are doing CTE testing asking me for OJ’s brain…that is not happening.”
O.J Simpson’s family refuses scientist’s request to donate his brain
Simpson’s attorney noted that “he’s signed off on all the paperwork for Simpson’s cremation, but the family gave a ‘hard no’ to scientists asking to study Simpson’s brain to see if the ex-running back suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)— a degenerative brain disease afflicting many retired football players who suffered multiple concussions during their careers.”
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CTE, which can only be discovered after death, was discovered to be found in 345 of 376 late players last year according to researchers at Boston University. The results revealed that “repetitive head impacts appear to be the chief risk factor for CTE.” However, MD, director of the BU CTE Center and chief of neuropathology at VA Boston Healthcare System, Ann McKee states that “people at risk for CTE that those experiences are in the minority. Your symptoms, whether or not they are related to CTE, likely can be treated, and you should seek medical care.”
As the news of Simpson’s family refusing to give up his brain for science made the news, social media users on X, formerly Twitter, shared their thoughts, mostly referring to his murder charges and his highly-publicized trial of the century. “That’s a shame. A valuable opportunity will be missed. I hope other NFL players are more generous,” someone wrote. “Destroying potential future evidence,” another added.
The late sports star was charged with killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman in 1994. However, he was acquitted in less than a year until the victims’ families took him to civil court, and got compensation of $33.5 million in 1997. Simpson was again arrested for involvement in an armed robbery in 2007 and was sentenced to 33 years in prison after which he was paroled in 2017 instead.