Former NFL wide receiver Vincent Jackson suffered from “chronic alcoholism” and possibly CTE before his death, police said earlier this week, who were citing an autopsy report and Jackson’s family.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told WRBQ radio that Jackson’s autopsy report showed signs of “chronic alcoholism” but a cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
The family of Vincent Jackson have since donated his brain to researchers at Boston University to determine if he had chromic traumatic encephalopathy, according to the New York Times.
“Vincent being who he was would have wanted to help as many people as possible,” said Allison Gorrell, a spokeswoman for the Jackson family, in a phone interview Wednesday. “It’s something his family wanted to do to get answers to some of their questions.”
Jackson was found deceased at the Homewood Suites in Brandon, Fla. A housekeeper found Jackson dead on Monday morning, but another report has since revealed that he was likely found dead days before that as hotel staff saw him slouched over on a sofa, but assumed he was asleep. It wasn’t until they came back and realized he was still in that same position.
Three days in a row, hotel staff found the former football player seated on a couch “slouched over.”
“On the dates of February 13 and February 14, hotel staff entered the secured hotel room and located the deceased seated on the couch, slouched over. They assumed he was sleeping and left the room. On the morning of February 15, hotel staff once against went into the secured room and were concerned when they found the deceased in the same position,” the report says.
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911 was called. He was confirmed dead.
The three-time Pro Bowler was drafted in the second round by the San Diego Chargers and played there for seven years, before signing with the Tampa Bay Bucs and ended his career there in 2016.
