Duerson's Death Ruled Suicide, Brain Donated to Research

By Angie Wiatrowski in News on Feb 20, 2011 3:00PM

The Dade County (Fla.) medical examiner ruled that former Bears' safety Dave Duerson's death as a suicide according to reports. Duerson was found dead in his Miami home Thursday night.

It seemed as though the ruling was leading that way, especially after some comments made by former '85 Bears coach Mike Ditka. Ditka said, "It's a sad time to see that. I know his life changed a little bit. I didn't know anything that would be preying on his mind that way. He was truly a nice guy, he really was."

NBCChicago.com reports that Duerson died from a gunshot wound to the chest and sent text messages asking that his brain be left for NFL research, particularly the "left side".

Duerson's brain will go to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine, the same place where more than 300 athletes, including fellow former '85 Bear Jim McMahon, have registered their brains for research. There are currently 65 brains in the bank and co-director Chris Nowinski said, "His family can be rest assured that it was an incredible selfless contribution to medical research."