Just days before Super Bowl 50 in the San Francisco Bay Area researchers announced that the late NFL quarterback Ken Stabler had a degenerative brain disease linked to several blows to the head. On February 3, Wednesday it was also announced that 3-time NFL champion Earl Morrall also suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that is linked with memory loss and progressive dementia. Several other former NFL players have been diagnosed with CTE including 12-time Pro Bowler Junior Seau who was posthumously elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year after committing suicide in 2012.

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Some ex-NFL players with CTE have died at an old age. They include Frank Gifford who passed away last year at the age of 84.

CTE can only be detected during brain scans after death. Thus, there is no diagnosis or treatment allowed by the pro football league.

Kyle Turley is a medical marijuana advocate. He explains that if the NFL can be a leader on the science of CTE treatment it could help to solve the brain injury problem, according to NBC New York.

Turley is part of a movement that highlights the pain-killing and brain-protecting benefits of medical pot. He argues it is the only effective treatment for the effects of multiple concussions of football players.  

Turley is the founder of Gridiron Cannabis Coalition. The group also includes other retired players and rapper Snoop Dogg.

Some research suggests marijuana can heal head trauma. Dale Gieringer is the director of the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). He argues that NFL players with CTE would benefit from access to medical cannabis.   

On February 5, Friday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke at his yearly "State of the NFL" media event. He reported that the league has no plans to change its policy on medicinal pot, despite two-thirds of NFL teams being in states where it is legal, according to ABC Denver.

Goodall said that the NFL regularly reviews its drug policy. He argued the current policy is the best one for now and the long-term health of the league's players, but it is also getting private reviews.

Here's an NFL player who claims medical marijuana broke his pain pill addiction: