Former New York Giants safety Tyler Sash was found dead of an accidental overdose of painkillers back on September 8. With Sash being only 27 years old, it was a shocking development that seemingly came out of nowhere. Now we may have more of a clue as to what may have caused it.

After Sash passed, his mother, Barnetta, made the decision to donate his brain to the University of Boston the Concussion Legacy Foundation who are leading the research into CTE and trying to find out more about the disease. Barnetta was convinced that her son’s change in behavior prior to his death was due to the new painkillers that he was taking, but after she was notified of the results of the study, it painted a different picture.

According to the study, Sash had extremely high levels of CTE in his brain for someone his age. The levels of CTE in the brain are rated on a 0-4 scale and Sash’s was at a Stage 2. They compared the severity of his head injury to that of the 43-year-old Junior Seau who also was at Stage 2.

“My son knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t express it,” Barnetta Sash said Monday night. “He was such a good person, and it’s sad that he struggled so with this — not knowing where to go with it.”

She continued: “Now it makes sense. The part of the brain that controls impulses, decision-making and reasoning was damaged badly.”

As someone who has suffered multiple concussions, I hope that doctors will be able to find out more about this devastating disease.