The smartest player in the NFL – and perhaps in the history of the NFL – “abruptly” retired two days after a medical study found indications of the degenerative brain disease CTE in 99 percent of the deceased NFL players who donated their brains for scientific research. ESPN reports:
Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel, the NFL’s mathematics expert, abruptly announced his retirement from football at the age of 26 on Thursday, just before the first full-team practice of training camp. …
Urschel is pursuing his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the offseason, focusing on spectral graph theory, numerical linear algebra and machine learning. He was expected to compete for the Ravens’ starting center job in training camp.
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