Yes, I thought that was smugly dismissive of the fact that these guys were brain damaged. In more mainstream sports where brain damage is a problem, it at least isn't met with "meh".
Most documented cases have occurred in athletes involved in contact sports such as American
football, wrestling, ice hockey, rugby, and soccer.[1] Other risk factors include being in the
military, prior domestic violence, and repeated banging of the head.[1]
"Traumatic" is the key word there. There are different sorts of brain damage, and traumatic brain damage (the kind from impact) is only one kind. I am not a doctor, but I wouldn't be surprised if brain damage due to hypoxia (low levels of oxygen in the brain) is not considered "traumatic" brain damage, and so wouldn't be on that list.
> Most documented cases have occurred in athletes involved in contact sports such as American football, wrestling, ice hockey, rugby, and soccer.[1] Other risk factors include being in the military, prior domestic violence, and repeated banging of the head.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopat...