Former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson joined the Boston University Center for Psychological Rehabilitation and CTE Research Center at WBUR City Space Oct. 9 to discuss his mental health journey after suffering repeated head trauma.
However, Johnson said he is disillusioned by how the NFL has addressed the long-term impacts of concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in its former players.
“I represent their biggest fear,” he said. “The thing that scares the NFL owners more than anything are concussions and the threat of the game going away.”
Paul Cherchia, assistant director of college mental health education programs at the BU Center for Psychological Rehabilitation, opened the event by briefing the audience on Johnson’s story and the mental health resources available to BU students.
Growing up in an abusive household, Johnson said he found football as an escape.
After realizing neither of his parents would be able to pay for his college, Johnson said he dedicated himself to playing collegiate football.
Johnson went on to play at the University of Colorado Boulder and was later drafted in round two of the 1995 NFL Draft to the New England Patriots, where he won three Super Bowls.
During his time with the Patriots, Jonhson said he was known for his hard-hitting style, including a signature move called “stun and separate,” in which he would jam the crown of his helmet into his opponent’s chin, allowing him to push past them.
However, a series of severe repeat concussions would eventually force Johnson to retire, he said.
Toward the end of his NFL career, Johnson fell into a severe dependency on Adderall and later cocaine to deal with his neurological problems. He described the concussions he suffered and the possible CTE he now has as a result of them as “the genesis for my drug abuse.”
Despite CTE not being diagnosable until after death, an abundance of research since the end of Johnson’s career has linked the development of CTE to repetitive head trauma experienced in contact sports.
In the opening presentation at the event, Michael Alosco, associate professor of neurology and co-director of the BU CTE Research Center, noted many individuals with CTE also suffer from substance use.
After getting sober in 2012, Johnson said he has faced his trauma through therapy and has become an advocate for mental health.
Today, Johnson is a wellness ambassador for Maritime Behavioral Health and a registered brain donor at the BU CTE Research Center.
Despite his pessimism about the NFL taking action, Johnson said he is still deeply committed to doing “everything I can to help” the cause of concussion research.
“The NFL only cares about what the fans want,” he said. “The only reason the NFL will start caring about guys after football is if the fans care.”
