dr. Eleanor Perfetto, a scientist and widow of former NFL player Ralph Wenzel, criticizes a recent study on CTE funded by the NFL Players Association.[2] A June 2025 study asked 172 caregivers of current and former professional football players whether they thought their partner had CTE, with all respondents being female.[2] Perfetto questions why these women's experiences should be minimized as they are medical researchers and first-hand witnesses to the symptoms of the disease.[2] Her husband Ralph Wenzel, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers, developed dementia and paranoia and lost the ability to speak, walk and eat.[2] Wenzel was first diagnosed with cognitive impairment in 1999, six years before CTE hit the mainstream media with Mike Webster's diagnosis.[2] Perfetto emphasizes that the study did not give her opinions, but only named what she observed on a daily basis.[2]