Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell Ask Each Other If They Have CTE

Former NFL players Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell broke down if they have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

During a recent episode of the CTESPN podcast, the former teammates spoke on several topics, including their time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, one of the more interesting tidbits came when they reflected on whether or not they both have CTE.

CTE is defined as a progressive degenerative disease that affects those who have suffered repeated concussions and other brain injuries. The disease is common amongst NFL players, given the hard-impact hits they take on the field throughout the football season.

Brown asked Bell if he thought he had it, and his former teammate laughed at the question before saying he didn't believe he suffered from the disease. Bell then added that he didn't think he had CTE either but stated neither would know until they passed away and their brains could be studied. Brown then gave his own definition of CTE, which was far from the actual medical explanation.

"I don't want to say it's brain damage because you can't live if it's brain damage," Brown said. "I feel like people try to frame CTE as a concussion you may have, but yo, we had a bunch of concussions. You know what I'm saying, like, you could live after a concussion."

Brown continued, "I feel like CTE could be a bunch of different things. I feel like it's a characteristic of traumas that we all as people go through. Just like some of them you were explaining. Like you were three,four years old, and your uncle made you play D-line and O-line for three years, banging another kid. That's automatically trauma in any kid. Any kid having to go through that is building some kind of trauma because now, as a kid, you just become more aggressive. You develop anger. As a kid, as a person, we all grow with our trauma."

Critics and fans believed Brown did have CTE, given his behavior on and off the football field. Brown has claimed he had it several times over the years, such as in a video post from 2023 where a woman was sucking on his finger.

"She know I got CTE that's why she licking me" he tweeted alongside the video.

Back in 2019, though, Brown told ESPN, "If I had CTE I wouldn't be able to have this beautiful gym, I wouldn't be able to be creative. I wouldn't be able to communicate. I'm perfectly fine."

He also addressed the big hit he took from Vontaze Burfict in 2016 that many believe changed his career: "I didn't take that many big hits. I had like one big hit in 10 years. Anybody who plays this game, they're going to get hit hard. He didn't hit me that hard. You know, I got up and walked off the field."