In October of 2017, news broke that former Eagles 3rd round pick Daniel Te'o-Nesheim passed away at just 30 years old. Since his death, his family has been desperate to find out more behind what caused his death. In the 11 months since his passing, his family slowly started to get answers that they needed to find their closure.
According to the Seattle Times, Te'o-Nesheim died after a night of drinking a mixture of alcohol and taking pills. His family has also learned that Te’o-Nesheim suffered from Grade 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. The Seattle Timesarticle states that he kept surgeries a secret from his family.
"Through his handwritten journal entries, they learned about surgeries they never knew he had. Through his friends, they learned about sudden blackouts he had been having. Through his attorney, they learned about the efforts he began just four weeks before his death to qualify for the NFL’s “total and permanent” disability benefits."
Te'o-Nesheim's family donated his brain to be studied at the Boston University School of Medicine after his death, and they made the discovery that he had CTE.
"Neuropathologists there concluded Daniel had Stage 2 CTE, with Stage 4 being the worst. Daniel had played 15 years of football, plus six years of youth soccer. He played tackle football beginning from age 11, on through high school, then Washington and then the NFL. The neuropathologists at Boston University reported that Daniel’s brain showed signs of “approximately 100 concussions, all from contact sports, 10 with loss of consciousness.”
Before his death, Te'o-Nesheim had applied for the Line of Duty claim from the NFL Disability Board. After discovering all the secret surgeries he had, his family re-applied for the benefits posthumously in his name, and the NFL Disability Board approved their claim. His family will now receive a minimum of $3,500 a month in benefits from the NFL.
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