Steve Jordan, a Phoenician and former tight end for Minnesota Vikings, is one former player who is participating in a TGen study that will test for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.
It’s not uncommon for Steve Jordan, Derek Kennard and Ray Perkins to see each other occasionally. All are residents of the Phoenix area, in their 50s and played in the NFL at roughly the same time.
But their get-together on Wednesday morning in downtown Phoenix was different. All three arrived early at Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) to participate in a study that could one day lead to detecting chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the living and improve treatment for those who have suffered brain injuries.