Former NFL Wide receiver Vincent Jackson died of chronic alcohol abuse, a medical examiner has revealed, shortly after doctors determined he had a serious disease called stage two CTE.
On Wednesday the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner in Florida said that former Buc’s wide receiver Vincent Jackson, 38, died in a Florida hotel room in February as a result of chronic alcohol use and determined that the manner death was ‘natural,’ reported.
The medical examiner’s release comes a week after Jackson’s family announced that researchers discovered that prior to his death he was suffering from stage 2 CTE, a severe brain injury which can cause symptoms of aggression, impulsivity, depression, paranoia, anxiety and substance abuse.
Medical examiners said that former wide receiver Vincent Jackson (pictured) died from chronic alcohol use and determined that the manner death was ‘natural’
Jackson pictured with his wife Lindsay, a first grade teacher, and three of their four children together
Jackson’s wife Lindsay (pictured) previously told ABC’s Good Morning America that her husband suffered from chronic alcoholism and memory issues before his death
Football players are known to be at a higher risk of contracting the condition due to the contact-heavy nature of their sport.
Former NFL player Phillip Adams’ autopsy revealed he’d been suffering from severe CTE when he killed his wife, their two children and three other people at his North Carolina home in April.
Adams, 32, then turned the gun on himself, with a doctor saying the CTE he’d been suffering was unusually severe for a man of his age.
Jackson, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who was never diagnosed with a concussion in his 12 seasons, was found dead at 38 in a Brandon, Florida hotel room on February 5.
According to the autopsy report, Jackson suffered from alcoholic cardiomyopathy, hepatic steatosis and fibrosis, esophageal varices, ascites, jaundice, remote pancreatitis, renal failure and hyponatremia dehydration, cardiovascular disease, and boutique shopping venice (in the know) intoxication by ethyl alcohol- all consistent with chronic alcohol use, ESPN reported.
The medical examiner also found that at he had a blood alcohol content of 0.28%
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While Jackson had no alcohol-related incidents during his time with the Buccaneers, early in his career with the Chargers he was arrested on suspicion of DUI in 2006 and 2009, according to ESPN.
Jackson’s wife Lindsay previously told ABC’s Good Morning America that her husband suffered from chronic alcoholism and memory issues before his death.
‘He shared with me once that alcohol made him feel calm, and made him feel like himself and that his brain was really fuzzy and this made it not fuzzy,’ Lindsay said.
His family suspected CTE because he sustained multiple concussions during a 12-year NFL career.
However, he was never officially diagnosed with a traumatic head injury, according to team records.
That’s not uncommon. About 20 percent of people suffering from the brain disease have never been diagnosed with a concussion, according to doctors from the CTE Center at Boston University.
Jackson, who was never diagnosed with a concussion in his 12 seasons, was found dead at 38 in a Brandon, Florida hotel room on February 5
Jackson’s family (wife Lindsay pictured) suspected he suffered from CTE because he sustained multiple concussions during a 12-year NFL career
‘It all made sense,’ Lindsay told GMA.
‘He didn’t know he had it. And I think, had he known, he wouldn’t have felt so ashamed or alone. No one should have to die in a room by himself.’
‘It all made sense,’ Lindsay told GMA. ‘He didn’t know he had it. And I think, had he known, he wouldn’t have felt so ashamed or alone.
No one should have to die in a room by himself.’
Jackson may have died several days before he was declared dead at his Tampa-area hotel room in February.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS news" data-version="2" id="mol-24a07de0-6403-11ec-ae9f-0906ffce5b54" website Jackson died of chronic alcohol abuse, medical examiner rules
