Football’s Brain Injuries

The gunman who opened fire in a Manhattan office building had a note in his wallet claiming that years of playing football had left him with a brain disease known as C.T.E. He inveighed against the N.F.L., which has an office in the building, though none of the four people he killed worked there.

In the end, the gunman, Shane Tamura, shot himself in the chest. “Study my brain please,” the note said. “I’m sorry.”

We won’t know until experts examine his brain whether Tamura had C.T.E. But we know he played football, the sport most associated with the disease, through high school.

Today’s newsletter explores what we know about C.T.E. and its connections to football and violence.

What causes C.T.E.?

C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is caused by an accumulation of blows to the head. There have been cases linked to hockey, rugby, wrestling and soccer. The blows needn’t be violent collisions that cause concussions. Rather, the disease seems to progress with both the number of hits and the cumulative impact of all those hits, as the chart below shows:

In a 2017 study, a neuropathologist examined the brains of 111 dead N.F.L. players. All but one had C.T.E.

Tamura never made it to the N.F.L. But studies have also found C.T.E. in people who played contact sports in their youth. A 2023 study of 152 athletes who died before age 30 showed that more than 40 percent had C.T.E.

What about the N.F.L.?

Tamura’s note accused the N.F.L. of concealing the danger of football in favor of profits.

Indeed, the league spent years denying the link between football and brain trauma, and it presented flawed research to bolster its claims, a Times investigation found in 2016. Some former players compared the N.F.L. to Big Tobacco, which had for years used bad science to cover up the harm cigarettes cause.

Over the past decade, the N.F.L. has changed its stance and added rules to reduce the risk of severe head injuries. Last season, concussions were at a record low. Still, the disease may be the unavoidable result of a game in which players slam into one another on every snap.

C.T.E. and violence

Doctors can diagnose C.T.E. in someone only after they have died. Because of that, identifying symptoms is difficult. But athletes who were later found to have the disease had displayed similar traits, including impulsive behavior, depression, cognitive impairment and suicidal thoughts.

My colleague Ken Belson, who has covered the disease for years, wrote about notable instances of violence by former football players with C.T.E. For instance, Aaron Hernandez, a former New England Patriots tight end, shot and killed an acquaintance and later killed himself in prison. Like Tamura, the former N.F.L. players Dave Duerson and Junior Seau shot themselves in the chest, which allowed researchers to study their brains.

Experts said it would take several weeks or months to determine whether Tamura had C.T.E. They said that, while Tamura’s death fits a pattern, they were hesitant to attribute his attack solely to C.T.E., because violence is a complicated matter that resists simple explanations.

“Mental health issues come from a lot of different places, not just from brain injuries or C.T.E.,” said Chris Nowinski, co-founder of a nonprofit that supports athletes affected by the disease. “But I also know the history of this issue, and it’s something that keeps me up at night.”

More on the shooting

• Friends and family spoke about the four victims: a police officer devoted to his children and his mosque; a gregarious security guard known for his warm smile; a financial executive who mentored women in her workplace and her synagogue; and a former athlete with a “heart of gold.”

• An N.F.L. employee was seriously injured in the shooting and was in stable condition, the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, said.

• The shooting was the deadliest in New York City in 25 years.

• Tamura bought a gun legally in his home state of Nevada last month, despite twice being held involuntarily after mental health crises, according to law enforcement officials.

THE LATEST NEWS

Tsunami

Tsunami waves are radiating across the Pacific after a major earthquake (8.8 magnitude) struck off Russia’s coast.

Damage: The waves have reached Alaska, California, Hawaii and Washington. So far most have been small, causing minor flooding. Forecasters had warned that waves could reach up to 10 feet in some places; they were about 6 feet above normal in Hawaii.

Evacuations: Millions of people along the Pacific Coast evacuated. In Japan, officials shut an airport and told about two million people to move to higher ground. In Hawaii, the governor declared an emergency and traffic filled mountain roads as people fled the sea, but officials there said the threat of widespread destruction had passed. Beaches are closed in parts of California.

The science: Tsunamis can travel more than 500 miles per hour in deep water, crossing an ocean in less than a day. Despite their portrayals in Hollywood films, tsunamis are not a single tall, curling wave. They’re actually a series of long waves that look more like sudden floods, crashing ashore in and building up in height. They can also cause powerful currents that last for hours or days. These waves could reach as far as South America.

The earthquake: It was one of the largest on record (tied for the sixth biggest, if scientists don’t revise its scale). Near the quake’s epicenter in Russia, cliffs collapsed into the sea, sending plumes of dust into the sky. Buildings shook and coastal areas flooded.

Follow the latest updates on the tsunami here.

War in Gaza

• Marjorie Taylor Greene said a “genocide” was underway in Gaza: She’s the first Republican in Congress to use that term about the crisis there.

• Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Britain would recognize the state of Palestine in September if Israel did not agree to a cease-fire with Hamas. Read what it would mean if Britain and France both recognize a Palestinian state.

• A Palestinian activist whose work featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” was shot and killed in the West Bank by an Israeli settler, witnesses said.

• Israel’s far-right finance minister said the country was “closer than ever” to rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza that were evacuated 20 years ago.

• The desperation in Gaza is visible from orbit. A satellite captured an image of hundreds of Palestinians converging on an aid convoy.

Epstein Files

• Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, said she would be unwilling to testify before Congress without immunity or clemency.

• President Trump acknowledged that Epstein recruited one victim, Virginia Giuffre, from Mar-a-Lago. He distanced himself from Epstein and from the allegations, saying, “By the way, she had no complaints about us.”

Politics

• The Trump administration fired a top lawyer at the National Security Agency after conservative activists criticized her.

• The Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint against a federal judge who ruled against Trump’s deportation plans.

• European leaders have coaxed Trump toward their position on issues like Gaza and Ukraine. They’re using a careful playbook of deference and praise, writes Luke Broadwater.

Climate

• The Environmental Protection Agency said it would revoke the scientific determination that lets it fight climate change.

• The Trump administration exempted 15 coal plants from some pollution rules, according to documents reviewed by The Times. All they had to do was email the E.P.A. and ask.

Economy

• Trade talks between the U.S. and China didn’t yield a deal. They agreed to keep talking about extending their trade truce.

• Trump is getting what he wants on tariffs, but experts aren’t sure yet how that will affect the U.S. economy.

• A merger would create America’s first coast-to-coast railroad network, reaching across 43 states.

• An economics Ph.D. used to be a reliable path to affluence and prestige. Not anymore.

Other Big Stories

The need for more donor organs is urgent. Broadening the definition of death beyond the end of brain function can help us procure more, Sandeep Jauhar, Snehal Patel and Deane Smith write.

MORNING READS

Cola war: In 1985, NASA and seven astronauts got caught in a face-off over the first soda in orbit.

Ask NYT Climate: Are dogs and cats bad for the environment?

Your pick: The most-clicked article in The Morning yesterday was about women’s superpower of holding many things at once.

Lives Lived: Dwight Muhammad Qawi joined a boxing program in prison in the 1970s. In the 1980s, he won world titles in two weight classes. He died at 72.

SPORTS

Tennis: Coco Gauff ended a two-month dry spell with a win at the Canadian Open, despite 23 double faults.

Hockey: Meet the man who inspired Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore 2.”

ON “SESAME STREET”

When “Sesame Street” first aired in 1969, New York City wasn’t a natural setting for a children’s show. At the time, the media portrayed the city as frightening — full of crime, riots and filthy streets.

The show portrayed a vision of how urban life could be: diverse, harmonious and full of local businesses. A Times reporter went to the set to explain the aesthetics — and the promise — of “Sesame Street.”

More on culture

• The Booker Prize announced its nominations. The list of 13 includes novels by Kiran Desai, Katie Kitamura and Susan Choi.

• Katy Perry, who is newly single, and Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada, went to a high-end restaurant in Montreal. People are speculating about why.

• Stephen Colbert joked about the Trump administration’s support for proselytizing at the office.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …