Chris Henry Suffered From Behavior-Altering Brain Trauma

Researchers have found late Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry suffered from a chronic brain injury that could have impacted his behavior. Henry is the first modern NFL player to be linked to such an ailment.

Microscopic tissue tests of Henry's brain showed that he had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), researchers from West Virginia University were expected to announce Monday alongside Henry's mother, Carolyn Lee Henry. Henry was killed when he either jumped or fell out the back of a pickup truck driven by his fiancé in December.

Henry died of several brain injuries but was not intoxicated, the autopsy showed. He was 26.

Neurosurgeon Julian Bailes, team doctor for the Mountaineers and a former Pittsburgh Steelers physician, said CTE is associated with certain neurobehavioral symptoms like failure at relationships, substance abuse depression and suicide. People with CTE also have higher rates of Alzheimer's.

"As we got the results, my emotion was sad -- it's so profound,"said Bailes, chairman of the department of neurosurgery at West Virginia and a former team physician for the Steelers, told The New York Times. "I was surprised in a way because of his age and because he was not known as a concussion sufferer or a big hitter. Is there some lower threshold when you become at risk for this disease? I'm struggling to see if something can come out positive out of this."

Henry was arrested five different times between 2005-2008. Following his fifth arrest, a judge referred to him as "a one-man crime wave."