There are plenty of more recent cases than those that played in the 60s. For example, Demarius Thomas played in the NFL 2010-2019 and died in 2021 at 33.
replyIt wouldn't be shocking if the rates of players from longer ago were higher but I don't think we can necessarily conclude that, there isn't enough data. The big factor seems to be number of head impacts over time. It could be the case that more recently than the 60s that kids started earlier and played more games, then we might see more CTE even if the total number of savage hits is less.
You don't even have to go that far back. ESPN used to have the Jacked Up segment, but quietly stopped doing it after all the negative press around CTE/concussions in the late 00s. Here (in Nnamdi Asomugha's hit) we hear a commentator talking about a player in the fencing response saying, "You see the arms up, you know that he got... JACKED UP!" Leading with the helmet like this would be an obvious personal foul today. I love a big hit as much as the next guy, but when I see someone go into the fencing response, it really bums me out.
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