Autopsy Reveals Severe Brain Trauma in Ex-NFL Player Who Shot 6

Autopsy Reveals Severe Brain Trauma in Ex-NFL Player Who Shot 6
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Phillip Adams (35) is attended to after injuring his left leg during the third quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis on Dec. 26, 2010. Tom Gannam/AP Photo
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ROCK HILL, S.C.—An autopsy revealed unusually severe brain disease in the frontal lobe of the former NFL player accused of fatally shooting six people in Rock Hill, South Carolina, before killing himself in April, authorities announced Tuesday.

The 20 years Phillip Adams spent playing football “definitively ... gave rise” to a diagnosis of stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, said Dr. Ann McKee, who examined his brain.