Former NFL quarterback Dan Marino has withdrawn from a suit against the NFL. The suit says the league knew for years there was a link between concussions and long-term health problems. Scientists believe repeated head trauma can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a progressive degenerative disease of the brain. Symptoms include depression, aggression, and disorientation, but so far scientists can only definitively diagnose it after death. Here are a few of the former athletes who have been diagnosed with CTE. 
Hall of Famer Mike Webster was the first former NFL player to be diagnosed with CTE. After his retirement, Webster suffered from amnesia, dementia, depression, and bone and muscle pain. 
The death of 36-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Justin Strzelczyk put the link between playing football and CTE in the national spotlight. Strzelczyk was killed in 2004 in a car crash after a 40-mile high-speed chase with police in New York. 
Evidence of CTE was found in the brain of football player Lew Carpenter after his death in 2010 at the age of 78. 
Pro Football Hall of Famer Louis Creekmur, who played for the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1959, suffered decades of cognitive decline before his death. 
Linebacker John Grimsley of the Houston Oilers died of an accidental gunshot wound to the chest. Analysis of his brain tissue confirmed damage to the neurofibrillary tangles that had begun to affect his behavior and memory. 
Chris Henry played five seasons for the the Cincinnati Bengals before dying at the age of 26. He died after falling from the bed of a moving pickup during a fight with his fiancée, ending a life plagued by behavioral problems. His young age prompted concern over how quickly athletes start to suffer from CTE. 
Offensive lineman Terry Long of the Pittsburgh Steelers commited suicide by drinking antifreeze. Although the antifreeze caused swelling of the brain, football-related brain injuries were a contributing factor to his death. 
Pro Football Hall of Famer John Mackey suffered from dementia for years before dying at the age of 69. 
Ollie Matson played 14 NFL seasons starting in the 1950s and suffered from dementia until his death in 2011. 
Andre Waters spent most of his 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles before his suicide at age 44. 
Tom McHale of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, right, died in 2008 of an apparent drug overdose at the age of 45. 
Junior Seau took his own life in 2012 at the age of 43. The question of CTE came up immediately after his death; scientists at the National Institutes of Health confirmed the diagnosis in January 2013. 
Wrestler Chris Benoit was found dead at his suburban Atlanta home along with his wife, Nancy, and son in an apparent murder-suicide. Later testing found that the damage to his brain was similar to that of an elderly Alzheimer's patient. 
Reggie Fleming, who played for six NHL teams, mainly in the 1960s, was the first hockey player to be diagnosed with CTE. 
Hockey player Bob Probert was found to have CTE after suffering from heart failure at the age of 45. 
Ryan Freel became the first MLB player to be diagnosed with CTE nearly a year after he committed suicide at age 36.
- Jovan Belcher was 25 when he killed his girlfriend and himself
- Doctor finds a protein in part of his brain where it shouldn't be
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, can only be diagnosed after death
(CNN) -- Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher likely had a devastating brain disease when he shot and killed his girlfriend and then himself two years ago, a doctor says in a new report.
Dr. Piotr Kozlowski, who prepared the report, found tangles of tau proteins in seven sections of the hippocampus structure in the brain, findings consistent with other players diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped structure crucial for memory.
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Heartbreaking 911 call released CNN had an outside neuropathologist validate the findings of Belcher's pathology report. The doctor said the results appear consistent with CTE, which is concerning because tau is not normally found in such a young brain.
CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease found in some athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma. More than 50 former NFL players, including Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, have been posthumously diagnosed with the disease. Many have committed suicide.
Belcher's body was exhumed in December, a year after he was buried.
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Belcher, who was 6-foot-2 and weighed 228 pounds, played for the Chiefs from 2009 to 2012, appearing in 59 games. On December 1, 2012, the linebacker fatally shot his girlfriend, Kassandra Perkins, in the same home with their 3-month-old daughter. He then drove to the team's practice facility, thanked his coaches, and shot himself. He was 25 years old.
The brain tissue of people found to have CTE displays an abnormal build-up of tau -- a protein that, when it spills out of cells, can choke off, or disable, neural pathways controlling things like memory, judgment and fear.
CTE can be diagnosed only after death.
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In July a federal judge approved a preliminary settlement in a class action concussion lawsuit filed by thousands of former NFL players against the National Football League.
The suit alleges the NFL didn't do enough to warn players about the risks of brain damage.
About 5,000 former players are involved in the class action but as many as 20,000 might be eligible. Current NFL players are not included in the agreement. Some family members can also file a claim after the ruling becomes final this fall.
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