The former NFL player who killed five people in a murder suicide in South Carolina on Thursday will be posthumously examined for a degenerative brain disease linked to soccer head trauma and irrational behavior, a new report said.
Phillip Adams’ family gave doctors the green light to test for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE, a condition commonly associated with football players, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The coroner’s office in York County, South Carolina, will conduct the tests, in conjunction with Boston University, where a 2017 study found that most football players suffered from the disease to some degree.
Results can last up to six months, the newspaper reported.
Adams, 32, broke into his former doctor’s home on Thursday and killed him, his wife and their two young grandchildren.
The athlete also fatally shot a contractor outside the doctor’s house before committing suicide.
Adams’ six years in the NFL were marred by injuries. In his 2012 season with Oakland, Adams reportedly sustained two concussions during a three-game spell.
Dr. Hallie Zwibel, the director of the New York Institute of Technology’s Center for Sports Medicine, told The Post on Thursday that it’s possible Adams may have developed CTE during his career.
He could have taken hits all the time [and] only ended up with only one or two concussions, but the cumulative hits he has sustained are so many that he could have developed a degenerative brain disease as a result, ”said Zwibel.
Zwibel said the disease could potentially help explain what prompted Adams to carry out the bloody disaster.
“It greatly affects people in their ability to enjoy relationships and friendships, to really function in the world. They understandably become very frustrated with the shortages they have, ”said Zwibel.
“People are becoming more impulsive and reckless in their behavior. They become emotionally unstable, ”he added.