Jay Cutler concerned about concussions, CTE and says he's trying to 'delay it as much as possible'

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Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler took a lot of hits in his 12-year career. He's still thinking about them after his retirement following the 2017 season.

"Oh, absolutely," Cutler told GQ's Clay Skipper on if he thinks about concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). "I would say definitely my memory isn't the same as it was 5 years ago. The amount of concussions I've had are probably in the double digits. It's gonna catch up to me at some point. I'm just trying to delay it as much as possible."

Cutler, 38, said last month he suffered 15 concussions in his career with the Bears, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos and though he feels healthy, "That CTE, it's coming at some point."

CTE, a degenerative brain disease, has been found in former football players and athletes of other sports where repeated head trauma is common. It is a disease prominent among football players and many athletes have died young with it. It can be diagnosed only postmortem.

Cutler's final concussion came Nov. 19, 2017, per the New York Post. His plan is to try and delay the impacts of head trauma he said he knows are coming. Via GQ:

"[I'm] trying to cut sugar. Heavy amounts of fish oil have been tied to health in the brain. I'm doing NAD [Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide]. I'm doing it through IVs now. NAD is in all the cells in your body, the mitochondria, the energy that pushes each cell to function. As you get older, you lose NAD. So I'm doing NAD therapy, which, at a core level, helps everything in your body. I've noticed that that's definitely helped me. Anything I can do these days, I'm trying to get involved in."

There is no proven treatment regime for CTE, but the NAD treatment option is emerging as a potential, promising option.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-jay-cutler-concerned-about-cte-trying-to-delay-head-trauma-impacts-as-much-as-possible-173512483.html

[jimfields33]

1. All the best to him

I’m so glad he’s try to get a head of this. It’d be great if what he’s doing worked. Could save many lives if his regiment ends up a success.

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2. I didn't think QBs were as vulnerable, but they do get a lot of 'sacks'

By analyzing the brain scans of 61 former players — half played only college ball, and the other half went on to play professionally — the researchers concluded that their hypothesis was correct: Certain positions were linked to greater white matter damage due to recurring head impacts. In particular, they looked at the effects of playing speed positions, like running backs and wide receivers, versus non-speed positions, such as offensive and defensive linemen. In general, linemen tend to bear the brunt of brain impacts, especially those to the front of the helmet.

https://www.inverse.com/article/37934-nfl-funded-study-brain-injury

[jimfields33]

3. I feel for the Patriots quarterback

He’s awesome but he gets “hit” often. I’m thinking quarterbacks have changed over the years to a more hands on play then previous quarterbacks.

[bearsfootball516]

4. Watched him as a Bears fan, I used to say he's gonna be the poster of CTE when he's older.

The poor guy got rocked in the head more times than I could count.