did too many concussions ultimately cause ryan freel to take his own life?ly start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. 29 minutes past the hour. >>> begin with a messy monday morning in the northeast. millions of people knee-dein snow and digging out right now. more than a foot of snow falling on parts of new york and new england. fedex warning all of the bad weather could mean major delays for millions of holiday packages. >> happy monday, everybody! ice and up to 9 inches of snow making a mess of the roads in pennsylvania. take a look at this tractor-trailer coming within inches of sliding right off of an overpass there. check that out. >>> more of the mayhem in pennsylvania. check out the conditions on i-93. a spinouts and accidents all over the state with more than a foot of snow recorded north of the massachusetts turnpike. >> big concerns about the morning commute throughout boston. freezing rain as temperatures fall and drivers are being warned to take it slow this morning or take it wicked slow they say in the boston area. >>> albany, new yor

it is the case of former player ryan freel. he played eight years including for the cincinnati reds last december. he took his own life and now doctors at boston university confirmed freel did have cte, the disease distorts the structure of the brain. people who suffer from that disease can become irritable, aggressive and depressed. cnn's carol costello spoke with the family about his life and struggle. >> he was always very active, impulsive person. i didn't understand why would he be depressed when he basically had it all? >> reporter: he did have it all. a career in the major es fans loved him. it cost him dearly. ten concussions s eight years. >> i kept saying, go to a doctor. have tests done. i'm fine. i'm fine. you know -- i'm not sure that ryan thought that his problem was a concussion at all. >> reporter: three years after freel retired he took a shotgun and killed himself. he was 36 years old. >> someone has a concussion, and it's not recognized, because people aren't paying attention to it in a sport like baseball and

. >>> plus ryan freel. >> i'm not sure ryan thought that his problem was concussions at all. >> reporter: this morning, the first major league baseball player diagnosed with a brain injury. you're live in the "cnn newsroom." >>> good morning, i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. jaw-dropping admission from the man who leads an nsa task force, amnesty should be on the table when it comes to edward snowden. in other words, snowden took the keys to the kingdom to russia and who knows? he could spill more damaging secrets at any time, secrets that could taj our national security, that assessment from richard legend, the man who heads the nsa task force on snowden. here's what he said about amnesty on "60 minutes." >> he's already said "if i got amnesty, i would come back." given the potential damage to national security, what would your thought on making a deal be? >> so my personal view is, yes, it's worth having a conversation about. i would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured and my bar for those assurances would be very high, more than just an

ryan freel, this made him a fan favorite. he played hard with a real outrageous style, crashed into walls, jumped into the stands, tried to take out catchers at home plate. that's the tragedy of this, that kind of behavior which fans love is going to have to be curtailed. >> home plate collisions, baseball is planning to ban those by 2015 because of other injuries. do you see any rule changes that baseball's making that will help? >> no, i don't at all. i mean, those collisions at home plate frankly have gone down a great deal in recent years because catchers play the position in a different way, due to the sweep tag, trying to catch the ball in front of the plate, so that to me is public relations. if you look at the concussions that ryan freel had, these were fluke plays, the worst one, he was taken off the field once on that a stretch of a the right fielder of the reds clocked him in the head with an elbow and they were both chasing the same ball. at some level when you're talking about any social behavior that involves hu

. >> reporter: ryan freel played baseball fearlessly. tough sometimes for his mom to watch. >> he said mom -- his exact words. mom, i don't know how to play any other way. if i don't play this way, no one will come to see me. >> reporter: being at the plate, collisions in the outfield. in this game freel gets nailed in the head during a pickoff play at second. researchers at boston university who studied his brain now say the late cincinnati reds outfielder suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or cte. the first baseball player ever to be diagnosed with the disease. researchers say brain injury throughout his life contributed to the condition. >> it just requires a whole lot of repetitive trauma for some people -- not everyone -- to turn on this progressive change to the brain that eventually leads to worse and worse functioning. >> reporter: after freel retired his life entered a downward spiral leading to deep depression. last december the 36-year-old father of three committed suicide. his family donated his brain to the cte

still friends say he was a good guy. >> that's what hurts the most is he wasn't a villain. >>> plus ryan freelm was concussions at all. >> reporter: this morning, the first major league baseball player diagnosed with

former player ryan freel committed suicide last year, and now the florida times union reports he was the same condition many football players are suffering from due to concussions. freel is the first major leaguers to be diagnosed with the condition. earlier, i talked to one of our sports contributors about the case. >> it's sort of ironic this wyche at the winter meetings, baseball banned commissions at home plate. last year, there were 18 concussions that put players on the disabled list, and 10 of the 18 involved catchers. ryan freel was not a catcher, he was a utility guy, but during his career, he told reporters he suffered at least nine or ten concussions. this is going to have a veer deep effect in major league baseball. >> ryan freel was 36 when he killed himself a year ago. his family wants major league baseball to make changes and do more to protect players from concussions. >>> actor peter o'toole, best known for his starer role in the classic "lawrence of arab yeah" has died. >> why don't you take a picture in. >> that film was his big break and his first nomination for a

. >> reporter: major leaguer ryan freel was not an all-star but he built a reputation over eight yearsig leagues as the guy who would do anything to make a play. >> it looks like he gets hit both right in the head and then also you can see the face go very hard into the dirt. >> reporter: freel said he suffered ten concussions by the time he retired in 2010. last december, the 36-year-old father of three shot himself. mornorma vargas is his mother. >> things made him unhappy. he would get sad, very sad. >> reporter: freel's family suspected his concussions played a role. they donated his brain tissue to this lab where boston university researchers study chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or c.t.e . it's believed the disease is triggered by blows to the head. brain tissue breaks down, which is the cause of memory loss and dementia. bob stern is cofounder of the university's research center. >> in some individuals it can increase problems with impulse control. it can lead to depression and suicidality. >> i feel better that there's a great study about this illness and that things could ch

ryan freel committed suicide last year and now the florida times union is reporting he was sufferingfered due to concussions. your reaction to this? >> you know, it is sort of ironic that this week, at the winter meetings, baseball banned collisions at home plate. because last year, there are 18 concussions, 18 concussions that put players on the disabled list and ten of the 18 involved catchers. as we can see here, ryan was an catcher. he was a utility guy playing different positions. but during his career he said he suffered nine or ten concussions. this will have a very deep affect on major league baseball. probably beyond just banning the collision at home plate. part of the reason baseball is doing this is because of what happened in the nfl. in the national football league, there are all these lawsuits filed against the league and they have o settle for something like a hundred million dollars. baseball does not want to go down that route. >> all right. terrence moore, live in atlanta for us. thank you so much. we appreciate it. i'm rose why flores. tonight, catch the back to t

now we're just learning how damaging that was to the late ryan freel. he is the

. >> to cincinnati reds fans ryan freel was known for fearless all out playing style during his eight year career in the big styl leagues. he estimated to have suffered up to eight concussions. >> he had pretty important hits prior to getting on the baseball field. i think a lot of people are the aware that he was a pretty aggressive hard nosed player on ve the field. >> freel retired in 2010 but last december, three days before christmas, the 36-year-old and father of three was found dead ad from a self inflicted gunshot wound a. at the time wound. his family requested his brain be tested. >> i don't think we'll ever really know if ct contributed to his death.dual in some individuals it can increase problems with impulse ntrol, control and lead to depression and suicide. >> freel is the first major legal baseball player diagnosed with the disease more commonly >> associated with football. friday the family of former kansas city chiefs line back belcher had his body tested for cte.exhu he fatally shot his girlfriend heir h last year before taking his own life. like nfl, major league b

. >>> the former major league baseball player, ryan freel, has become the first pro baseball player to severe brain disease known as c.t.e. it's associated with bruising sports like football and hockey but freel's case suggests baseball may have a growing concussion problem as well. freel committed suicide last year at the age of 36 after playing a relentless and fierce style of baseball for eight seasons. rachel nichols is joining us now, the host of cnn's "unguarded." how do you think this is going to impact major league baseball, this latest development, rachel? >> we've already seen just recently at the winter meetings baseball takes steps to ban home plate collisions. those collisions we see when a runner is sliding in trying to dislodge a ball from the catcher. but i don't see that many changes. you're still going to see hitters hit by pitches from time to time. an interesting side note to all of this, wolf, is a couple of years ago at boston university they did a study on lou gehrig. they went back through newspaper clippings, medical records. he suffered from a.l.s. and found t

major league baseball player ryan freel was suffering from degenerative brain disease cte when he committed last year according to his family who got the results from a boston university report. cte is often associated with frequent concussions and believed he suffered at least ten concussions during his playing days and the first case where a professional baseball player was shown to have cte and it's often associated with nfl players. it was a busy day around the nfl on sunday with teams pushing for the post season and we will go to that now. >> high entertainment and the outcome of the patriots and dolphins the match had an effect on the top and bottom of the afc picture and what would tom brady do? he would throw it to the receiver julian and 13 catches and 139 yards and the score for je is up three late and until quarterback hit marcus to give the dolphins 24-20 lead and 1:15 remaining and brady looking to pull off a second half rally for the fourth straight game and michael thomas fresh off the squad picks him off and miami wins which of course means the patriots lose on a day where t

ryan frooel was a player who committed suicide. he's the first to be diagnose with c.t.e. he retired after reportedly sustaining five or 10 concussions, freel ran into balls, collided with team-mates. dr bales told me it was unusual and unexpected for a baseball player to show signs, but 18 major league players were placement on the disabled lift last year. 10 were catchers. to that end baseball owners in january will vote on new rules that would eliminate home-plate conditions lessening concussions. >> thank you. interesting story. >> one of the biggest drug makers makes a sweeping policy shift. it's called a game changer. >> glaxosmithcline will stop paying doctors. >> glaxo are a big firm. the $10 billion a year company is soon to stop paying doctors in incentives to promote drugs at speaking conferencers. it's no longer going pay for other doctors to attend the doctors. crucially, the big one, is that in future the sales force will no longer have individual sales targets tied to prescriptions written by doctors. instead they'll be paid based on the quality of service and overall company profits. it's worth noting that sales people for g

if you look at the conaccusations that ryan freel had. the worst one he had, he was taken out on the field, after being clocked in the side of the head. at some level when you talk about social behaviour. these things will happen. >> let's move on, super bowl 48 will be at met life stadium. the obvious concern about a game play is the chance of snow. not to worry the n.f.l. floated the idea of moving the game to a different day if a major snow tomorrow is predicted. why did they pick a north-east stadium without a dome? >> it was part of a rush. the n.f.l. stands with the families, it was part of that mood in the country, now it's $, it's hilarious that the n.f.l. is trying to cover its behind. let's be honest. i love the super bowl . i watch it on tv. i would love to watch it. it would be amazing. the super bowl is like woodstock for the 1%, where the corporate big wigs come in. there's no event in the united states that have more private jets. that's an fta fact. >> got to leave it there. we are running out of time. show is over.