Just in Essendon Confirm the departure of their top super star due to……..

In a shocking revelation that will shiver through the AFL, former Collingwood and Richmond great Craig Stewart has been identified as the latest professional football player to suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Stewart, who passed away in June 2023 at the age of 66, was the father of James Stewart, the Essendon defender who was just delisted.

However, as reported by the Herald Sun, an examination of Stewart’s brain indicated he was suffering from Stage I CTE at the time of his death.

Persistent head trauma and traumas that are only detected postmortem are thought to be the causes of Encephalopathy.

Headaches, loss of focus, and even short-term memory loss are frequently observed symptoms of first-degree dementia.

The executive branch is impairment, impulsivity, mood swings, and suicidal ideation are also present in some people with stage II CTE. Danny Frawley, an AFL legend, is thought to have received a Stage 2-related diagnosis.

It is with great sadness that we have finally received the specialized medical report from the ASBB verifying that Craig had CTE, according to James Stewart for the Herald Sun.

But it does help us understand why his behavior and health have declined over the previous few years.

Although it is a terrible condition, The conditioning process is avoidable.

We send our condolences to all the families impacted by this avoidable illness.

Peter Jess, the manager of Stewart, continued, saying that during the previous 15 years, he had noticed shifts in his friend’s “mood and behavioral patterns.”

Before me and his family, Jess remarked, “I watched a once great proud man disintegrate.”

One of Australia’s top concussion specialists, Dr. Alan Pearce, began doing early clinical research in 2011, and Jess disclosed that Stewart had assisted in raising funds for those investigations.

The fact that repeated head trauma causes irreversible brain damage is no longer an if or a maybe, as stated by Jess.

“On the basis of recurring dysfunctional behavior, we’ve created an entire concept of a ‘walking dead,’ or at least a ticking time bomb, with enormous social costs.”

Upon entering Collingwood’s 1978 team and making an impression on coach Tom Hafey, Stewart made an instant impression on the AFL football community.

He played in 21 games during his first season, earning him the title of greatest first-year player.

Sluggles, as Stewart was nicknamed, played 115 games and scored 122 goals for the Magpies, including back-to-back grand final appearances in 1980 and 1981, respectively.

In his two seasons with Collingwood, the 193cm big man scored six goals.

He was moved to Richmond, though, and played 35 more games there in that followed, 1984 through the summer of 1986 to close out his career.

The announcement coincides with the AFL approving new regulations, which include a prosecution against aggressive smothers such as the one that left Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw with a serious concussion during the twenty-third annual the championship game