Jon Burnett: CTE Diagnosis Confirmed

In February of last year, KDKA-TV personality Jon Burnett revealed that he was diagnosed with suspected chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

One year later, he was gone.

CTE, is a brain disease believed to be caused by repetitive head injuries, and most often commonly seen in football players. Burnett had played football in his high school and college years, with one play resulting in his helmet splitting in two. CTE complications also claimed the life of Pittsburgh Steelers center “Iron Mike” Webster in 2002.

Like most brain injuries, CTE is one that can only be diagnosed post-mortem. Dr. Julia Kofler is the director of the National Sports Brain Bank (NSBB), which performed the autopsy on Burnett’s brain after his death. Dr. Kofler confirmed that not only was CTE detected, but seven other neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS and frontotemporal dementia.

Burnett was the first patient to donate his brain after the NSBB’s founding in 2023. Since speaking of his diagnosis in a KDKA interview, more than 100 others signed up to donate their own brains post-mortem.

Burnett’s son Eric showed pride in his father’s courage to come forward with his struggles.

“If we can inspire people too, if that story can inspire people to be more open about that and seek help when they need it, that’s the most important thing,” he said in an interview with KDKA-TV.

KDKA and the Tribune-Review contributed to this report.