Posted by Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is the term used to describe brain degeneration likely caused by repeated head traumas. The topic has been widely discussed this week after Tampa Bay Buccaneer Antonio Brown walked off the field in the middle of their Sunday (January 2) game against the New York Jets. In a clip, Brown takes off his gear, throws it into the stands, runs across the end zone and disappears into the tunnel. While Brown’s NFL contract was terminated, former New England Patriot Rodney Harrison suggested Brown is struggling with CTE.
De La Soul legend Maseo is concerned his own son, Tre Mason, is suffering from the condition. Mason was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2014 but started experiencing problems going into his second season and was released from the team in 2017. In 2018, he joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders and was released a year later.
But according to Maseo, his wife and son Chauncey, Mason needs help. On Thursday (January 6), Maseo shared a post from Chauncey’s Instagram Story that read, “If anyone has been paying attention to my brother Tre Mason please ignore the outlandish post and antics he may be displaying. It will be real helpful for all our loved ones and friends to encourage him to get help with his mental issues.
“It’s been 7 years since we’ve been trying to control this issue as a family and get him help with his situation possibly having CTE. I’m reaching out for real love and support with this. I’m losing my brother mentally and as a family we cannot handle this situation alone anymore.”
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Maseo then went on to explain in the caption he and A Tribe Called Quest luminary Q-Tip have tried to reach out to celebrities who may be able to provide some assistance — including ex-New York Giant and Good Morning America co-host Michael Strahan — but received zero replies.
“My family and I are 100 percent convince that my son is suffering from CTE and the NFL gave no support or any type of help,” he wrote. “When all these things began to happen with Tre the Rams coach and general manager were figuring out how to get rid of Tre instead of helping him. We as a family have been doing tons of research and have been reaching out to high profiled ppl such as @realmichealstrahan with the help of my brother @qtiptheabstract and we got no response.
“We are not the first family who are going through this but probably the first to speak out at this point. We all watched what @ab went through and I’m not sure if his issue is concussion related but he did adamantly express not feeling healthy enough to play. Football is an unnatural contact sport so we really need to pay attention to these players when they say they are not feeling well. It almost seems as concussions is a forbidden discussion amongst the NFL fraternity as well as the media.”
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CTE has the potential to lead to tragedy. In 2015, former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez was found guilty for the murder of Odin Lloyd. During the trial, Hernandez was indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Although he was ultimately acquitted in 2017, Hernandez was discovered dead in his cell just days after the acquittal. He was posthumously diagnosed with CTE, which has led to speculation over how the condition may have affected his behavior.
Maseo wants to bring more awareness to the cause while seeking some kind of treatment for his son. At the end of the caption, he also offered his unwavering support to Antonio Brown.
“I urge all you fans of the sports to dig a little deeper when these young men act out I’m not saying there behavior is justified but something else wrong instead what we see on the surface,” he concluded. “MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO ANTONIO BROWN AND HIS FAMILY. @ab DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO MAINTAIN YOUR SANITY AND INTEGRITY WE KNOW YOU DIDN’T COME THIS FAR TO THROW IT ALL AWAY BUT IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY THEN WALK AWAY THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF MONEY WORTH YOUR PEACE OF MIND…WE LOVE YOU BROTHER!”