Brian Urlacher Says Some Ex-NFL Players Fake CTE Just to ‘Be in the F*ck*ng Lawsuit’

Former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher expressed sympathy for ex-NFL players who suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) but also says some players are faking the disease “to be in the f*ck*ng lawsuit.”

“Here’s the problem now with all the guys with the CTE, if they do have it, I feel for them, but there’s guys who say they have it just so they can be in the f–king lawsuit,” Urlacher said on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast.

Urlacher, a notoriously hard-hitting defender during his playing days, says that despite occasionally forgetting some things, he feels like he’s doing “pretty well.”

“I feel like I’m decently sharp still,” Urlacher said. “You know, there’s some things I forget, but my friends forget sh*t too. I feel like I’m still doing pretty well.”

Urlacher continued, “They want that money from the NFL and I get it, man. You know, everyone wants to get there due, but there’s really guys that have it, that deserve to be taken care of. And there’s the guys that don’t have it who want to be — who want to have it just so they can get part of that lawsuit and that just drives me crazy.”

CTE, a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed posthumously, is believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head over a significant period of time.

“The degenerative disease can cause several symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, depression, impulse control and dementia that appear years after the blows to the head. A diagnosis can only come after death through brain tissue analysis,” the Hill reports.

The NFL reached an agreement with their then-18,000 retired players in 2013, to payout $765 million to “compensate victims, pay for medical exams and underwrite research.”

Brian Urlacher played 13 seasons in the NFL, all of them with the Bears. During that time he made eight trips to the Pro Bowl, was a four-time All-Pro selection, and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2005.