Dr. Bennet Omalu, whose work inspired the “Concussion” movie, strongly believes that O.J. Simpson suffers from CTE.
Omalu originally identified the disease and he thinks Simpson exhibits a number of symptoms.
“I would bet my medical license that he has CTE,” Omalu told People Magazine. “Given his profile, I think it’s not an irresponsible conclusion to suspect he has CTE.”
People also cited court documents filed in 2012 in which Simpson contended that he’d suffered numerous blows to the head during his football career. Omalu also noted that Simpson’s relatively large head size put his brain at increased risk.
Some close to Simpson also believe that he may be afflicted with the problem.
“Everybody who knows him knows there’s a problem there,” said Norman Pardo, Simpson’s former business manager. “There’s something wrong with his head and there has been for a long time.”
CTE cannot be diagnosed until death, so there’s no way of knowing if Simpson is afflicted as long as he’s alive. While it wouldn’t provide an excuse for his history of violent behavior, it could explain some of it.
