The 6’5”, 285-pound deceased defensive tackle was identified on Sunday as Kosta Karageorge. The missing Ohio State football player had disappeared the previous Wednesday. Karageorge died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and his body was found in a dumpster nearby campus on Sunday. Karageorge had recently been dealing with spells of confusion and numerous concussions. His mother received a somber text from her son on Wednesday alluding to his concussions and apologizing for being an embarrassment.
Many football players, especially past NFL stars, suffer from the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an afflication caused from concussions and other repetitive brain trauma. As of December 2012, 33 former NFL players have been diagnosed post-mortem with CTE. Retired NFL star Junior Seau committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the chest; Seau suffered from brain damage to CTE. Seau’s death occurred in 2012, alongside another event caused by CTE later that year. Jovan Belcher was a current linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs and was ignoring the signs that pointed toward him suffering from CTE. Belcher killed his girlfriend and then drove to Arrowhead Stadium where he shot himself in front of the GM and coach.
Karageorge’s body is still being tested to determine if he suffered from CTE like many other NFL pros, including the deceased Owen Thomas. Thomas was a 21-year-old lineman at University of Pennsylvania who suffered from CTE and committed suicide. Kostka will be one of the youngest people diagnosed with CTE if he is diagnosed with the horrendous disease. However, it may not be the only contributor to his early death: “there are many factors associated with suicide. You just don’t know,”said Julian Bales, a neurosurgeon of the NorthShore Neurological Institute of Suburban Chicago.
Karageorge told his roommates he was going for a walk the night he disappeared. The 22-year-old had spent the previous three seasons wrestling at Ohio State until he joined the football team as a defensive tackle this season. The wrestling coach said that Kostka had no documented concussions as a wrestler. The team began to worry on practice Thursday when Karageorge did not show up. The Ohio State Buckeyes went on to beat Michigan this past Saturday 42-28. Karageorge would have been honored at the game alongside his fellow senior football players for their hard work and commitment while playing football at Ohio State.
Ohio State football players, wrestlers, friends and family will be attending Karageorge’s funeral on Wednesday. Fellow teammates on the football team describe Kostka as “a hard-working and enthusiastic athlete who often stayed for extra practice even though it was unlikely he would play a game”. The Buckeyes football team are planning on wearing a No. 53 (Kostka Karageorge’s numbers) sticker on their helmet during the Big Ten Championship game Saturday against Wisconsin.