there was no evidence of alzheimer's disease or any other near a degenerative disorder. the findings indicated that if he had not sustained repetitive head trauma during the play of football, he would be alive and well today, enjoying his family and grandchildren. i also have examined the brain of a high school player who suffered several concussions and died at the age of 18. the brain from an 18-year-old man should be perfect. there should be no abnormalities anywhere. but in the brain of this young man, at the age of 18, there are already spots of extreme damage. and you can see the areas of damage looking at the slide, it just with your naked eye in the red boxes. those are areas of extreme damage found in an 18-year-old football player. these are changes -- the earliest changes of cte. had he lived longer, he certainly would have developed the same full blown cte that we have found in college and professional football players. i've now examined the brains of 7 former nfl players and four college players. i found the profound changes of cte and all of them. and the e

with a plan that provides a $88,000 for each former player and his family to as dementia or alzheimer's. those players do not need to show that their condition is related to football. we have developed and funded new bethel benefits for retirees, including cardiovascular and profit -- prostate cancer screening, assisted living are arrangements, and discounts for prescription drugs. retirements -- retirees are eligible at no cost to themselves. in each successive collective bargaining since 1983, we have improved this and we want that to continue. as we negotiate for a new agreement, the clubs have identified specific priorities and we look forward to discussing the proposals with the union. through these and other benefits, retired players will receive more than $100 million in 2009, and i have committed to our retirees and our repeat that commitment today that we will not reduce or eliminate funding for these benefits based on the status of our collective bargaining agreement, and we will continue to accept new applications for disability for 88 plan benefits. with also tried to unders

fine times the rate of cog knitive impairment and retired players were 37% more likely to suffer from alzheimer's than the population as a whole. and earl here this year, the university of michigan released the study that found that 6.1% of nfl players over 50 years of age reported they had received a dementia related diagnosis. a statistic five times higher than the national average. and players aged 30 through 49 showed a rate of 1.9% of dementia related diagnosis. 19 times that of the national average. last week the "new york times" prepared an analysis of the data from the nfl's man to reimburse retired players for dementia related medical expenses, which found similar data, medical researchers also cite autopsies performed on numerous former nfl players who following their death were diagnosed to be suffering from c.t.e. brain disease and some of these diseased players, we remember. mike webster the 50-year-old, nine-time pro bowl center for the steelers. he died regrettably a pennyless wreck clues, sleeping on the floor of a pittsburgh train station. and terry long, 45-year-old ex-steeler w