BOSTON – San Antonio high school and pro football legend Tommy Nobis had the most severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, according to a report Tuesday by The Associated Press.
CTE is the degenerative brain disease linked to repetitive blows to the head. It can cause violent mood swings, behavioral problems and issues with critical thinking.
Recommended Videos
The AP cited research from Dr. Ann McKee, the director of Boston University's CTE center, who said on Monday that Nobis had the most severe form of the disease and showed a "severe loss of neurons and large CTE lesions throughout the cerebral cortex."
Nobis died in December 2017 at the age of 74. He was born and raised in San Antonio and starred at Jefferson High School.
He was an all-state offensive lineman and linebacker for the Mustangs before he moved on to Texas and became an All-American player for the Longhorns.
The Atlanta Falcons selected Nobis with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1966 NFL draft.
He was selected to five Pro Bowls in 11 seasons with the franchise and was known as "Mr. Falcon" after his career ended. His No. 60 was retired by Texas and the Falcons.
The Associated Press interviewed Nobis' daughter, who said the family was not surprised with the diagnosis.
"We were pretty uneasy growing up," his daughter, Devon Jackoniski, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "Although my dad had just some beautiful moments of being a wonderful man, emotionally he was so unstable it was just hard to get close to him."
Jackoniski was 2 years old when her father retired from the NFL, but football was never far from their lives.
"That truly was my dad's first love," Jackoniski said. "He wasn't born with a lot of money. They were from a blue-collar area. It gave my dad a lot of opportunities, so it's kind of a bittersweet thing."
Nobis spent three decades in the Falcons' front office, working in scouting, marketing, player development and corporate development. He also ran a charity that provided job training for people with disabilities.
Jackoniski said he would approach children with disabilities at restaurants, just to make them laugh. But he was a different person away from the public eye.
"That can be awkward for a lot of people, but it wasn't to him. He could relate to a kid but not an adult," she said. "When we were growing up, people would always come up to us and say, 'Your dad is a saint.' We would just sit there smiling, knowing that when we got home, the tide was going to turn."
As Nobis got older, Jackoniski said his mood swings and outbursts became more public. He began to lash out at family members.
"He was this caged animal that was just unleashed," she said. "At that point we knew there was something wrong. Once he took it out to the public, we knew there was something horribly wrong with him."
CTE, which can only be diagnosed after death, has been found in more than 100 former NFL players, and in dozens more athletes and members of the military who have been exposed to repetitive head trauma.
The disease can lead to memory loss, depression and even suicide.
"I don't know that I ever saw my dad without showing signs of CTE, my entire life," she said. "In hindsight, I think that was the saddest part of the news. His children never even knew who he was. My mom even may have not known."