Jason Kelce, who officially retired from the NFL a couple of months ago due to mental and physical exhaustion, can’t seem to escape the spotlight. He recently talked about being scared of getting CTE, a brain problem caused by head injuries, and even admitted he might already have it. CTE is a big worry in the NFL because some former players were found to have it after they died.

While CTE can’t be diagnosed in living individuals, Antonio Brown has drawn attention to the issue by using the hashtag “#CTE.” The former Patriots wide receiver is quite well-known for his controversial behavior and has often been labeled “crazy” for allegedly showing CTE symptoms. Recently, amidst Kelce’s CTE scare, Brown took a jab at the Eagles legend by promoting his own brand and hashtag. 

Antonio Brown uses Kelce’s CTE situation to promote his brand

Antonio Brown has made CTE a part of his identity. He even claims to have CTE and created a social media page called “CTESPNNetwork” to mock ESPN. He also hosts a podcast called “CTESPN Pod,” where he talks about the insider perspectives of the sport. Less than a month after launching CTESPN, Brown used Jason Kelce’s recent worries about having CTE to promote his venture. MLFootball posted on their X handle that the “Eagles legend Jason Kelce says that he thinks he has CTE.” They also mentioned a quote from the center stating, “I mean I can virtually guarantee that I have CTE.” Banking on the opportunity, Brown reposted it with the caption “First step is admitting it 🤝 #CTESPN.”

This was a classic attention-grabbing move by Brown, using a controversial topic to promote his own brand. However, despite being a typical Brown-style joke, it also brought more attention to Kelce’s possible CTE diagnosis.

Jason Kelce’s shocking CTE admission

A strange conversation about horse racing on social media led Jason Kelce to talk about a serious health issue affecting the NFL. It started when Kelce claimed a famous racehorse, Secretariat, used steroids. He said there wasn’t enough testing back then, and steroids were used a lot in the 1960s. Soon, someone responded to Kelce’s claim on X, saying, “[Y]ou know who else makes unsubstantiated claims not backed up by facts. People suffering from CTE. I’ll admit I don’t know whether @JasonKelce suffers from CTE or not, it’s impossible to know.”

Kelce then surprised everyone by responding, “I mean I can virtually guarantee that I have CTE, all the research would suggest I have some degree of it. I think it is entirely reasonable to assume I have some degree of that pathology.” Now, when famous stars like Kelce and Brown talk about CTE, whether it’s serious or just for fun, it shows that the NFL still has a lot to figure out and answer about the disorder.