(MCT) LOS ANGELES_Junior Seau, among the greatest linebackers in NFL history, suffered from degenerative brain disease when he fatally shot himself last May, the National Institutes of Health said in a study released Thursday, another blow to a league whose former players say they were never warned about the dangers of head injuries.

More than 2,000 former players are suing the NFL, contending the league never properly addressed the problems with head injuries and in many cases withheld information about the long-term effects associated with them.

Tissue samples of Seau's brain showed the 12-time All-Pro player had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a progressive disease diagnosed after death.