Greg Clark was a name to reckon with in the world of the NFL. Drafted by the 49ers back in 1997, Greg played at Stanford University and impressed one and all with his talent. He was regarded as one of the great tight ends when he was active in the league.
However, as is often the case with innumerable talented footballers, Greg’s career was cut short because of injuries. The 6 feet 5 inches tall footballer played for just five seasons in the NFL, all for the San Francisco 49ers.
“Mild hits during the game triggered CTE”: Dr. Anne McKee on Greg Clark’s suicide case
The world was left shellshocked when Greg committed suicide last year in his family home. He fatally shot himself on July 7, 2021 and his demise sparked the conversation around the drastic and long-term impact of the injuries one sustains in the NFL.
Recently, Greg’s wife Carie, in interaction with Mercury News, opened up about her husband’s long and arduous battle with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE a problem that many NFL players have faced. “He totally was suffering in silence,” Carie Clark said.
“He did all the things they tried to offer and it just wasn’t enough,” Carie stated while talking about the treatment options through the NFL and its players’ union. “I didn’t really know a whole lot, because he was hiding it from me,” she added.
As reported by Mercury News, Dr. Ann McKee of the Boston University CTE Center told them that “CTE is a progressive disease and it gets worse as an individual ages. Even though Greg retired before age 30, the disease continued to progress and it spread from those lesions, which is very classic for CTE.“
“His disease had spread into the interior of brain, the parts that control learning and memory. It’s those mild hits, called sub-concussive hits, that over time trigger CTE,” Dr. Ann further added.
“We knew he had CTE symptoms. I was shaken when they said he had advanced, Stage 3 CTE,” Carie Clark said. Before ending his life, Clark had sent emails to his friends seeking help. These revelations are really shocking and it would be interesting to see if the NFL takes some steps in order to help out players who face such issues.
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