This week in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Dave Duerson committed suicide last week. That he was a successful NFL safety and businessman in retirement alone justifies the reverberations felt throughout the sports world.

Then there's this: Dave shot himself in the heart, not the head. He suspected the depression with which he suffered mightily in the final years of his life was connected to a career filled with jarring head trauma. So he wanted a post-mortem examination of his brain, believing that he was afflicted with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Although the results have not yet been revealed, I suspect they may show the hallmarks of CTE.

Until the results are released, and no doubt in spite of whatever the diagnosis, the NFL remains big business. But what happens in the wake of successful careers is nothing short of astonishing; not to mention tragic.