Frank Gifford, the Hall of Fame N.F.L. running back who was involved in one of the most brutal collisions in league history, was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease.
The finding, which can only be confirmed posthumously, was announced by Gifford’s family on Wednesday, more than three months after Gifford died. His family hoped that in publicizing the diagnosis, more attention would be paid to medical research linking football and traumatic brain injury.
“While Frank passed away from natural causes this past August at the age of 84, our suspicions that he was suffering from the debilitating effects of head trauma were confirmed” when he was diagnosed with C.