He was watching Monday Night Football and he had his UCLA slippers under his bed.

He loved the game, and he was proud of what he did, even to the very end of his life.

Former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Fred McNeill love football.

He was a monster.

Hey, was a monster.

Indeed, all over the field first went to the ball despite how much of his life football later took from him.

Fred did everything he was, you know.

He played ball, went to law school, prepared for life after football.

Way had kids.

It was a good life.

McNeil played in two Super Bowls, was really no ordinary player.

His son say no ordinary man was, uh, best friend of ours.

Our first best friend, you know, It was look Superman and then it changed.

It changed CTE.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy entered their lives.

Of course, at the time, they had no idea what was happening.

I remember we were playing basketball, me and him.

We kind of got into argument while playing, and he started getting aggressive with me.

There was maybe two moments where he lost it on punched holes in the walls and it was like, Wow, CTE can hit hard and fast.

McNeil, just in his forties, lost his job as a lawyer, filed for bankruptcy, lost the home.

I had a conversation with my mom, and I was like, Yeah, I think something's going on.

He needs to go see a doctor or therapist, Something to figure out what it is.

It is something.

I noticed myself when I first met Fred back in 2010.

Just talking.

I could tell that it z a little bit difficult for you.

I mean, do you remember my name?

Uh huh.

Oh, Sanjay.

Got it.

Oh, right.

Good rage, memory loss.

Depression.

Yeah.

Did your father have all three of those?

Definitely.

Definitely.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That was another point of worry for us because it was times when you know he would talk about ending it.

And you're like, No way, Like this is not This is not our dad.

But it was their dad a different dad.

And it was easy to be angry with him after all, they didn't know he had CTE.

It couldn't be diagnosed until after his death.

And you also made the decision toe have Fred's brain donated after he passed away.

Well, I had made the decision early on, but yes, first thing I want to show you is this.

And now, for the first time, she is seeing her husband's brain and exactly what football did to it.

On all the brown blotches you're seeing a town, which is the protein we see in C T E.

Dr Bennet Omalu, recently made famous When Will Smith portrayed him in the movie concussion?

If you look at his hippocampus, this is a part of the brain that controls his memory.

He had significant memory impairment.

You can see how CTE ravaged McNeil's brain.

I know there's a huge number of players and families between you know that point.

And now when you Fred, first start playing that are gonna be experiencing this and it z important, too, have information for them to get help and support.