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Leonard Marshall, Matt Hasselbeck Pledge Brains To Concussion Research

BOSTON (CBSNewYork/AP) — Two more retired football stars have pledged their brains to research.

Former Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall and three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck say they will donate their brains to the Concussion Legacy Foundation for research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The announcements were made Wednesday as part of the second annual Brain Trust conference, which is hosted by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Marshall, 55, said he already has short-term memory loss and erratic behavior.

"CTE is no joke, and I don't want to see anyone else suffer like me and my friends," Marshall said. "... This is literally a life-and-death matter, and it's time we start having real, honest conversations about brain trauma in professional and youth sports. In pledging my brain, I hope to advance the research that will save football players, past, present and future."

Marshall played for the Giants from 1983-92. He was a member of their Super Bowl XXI and XXV championship teams and a two-time Pro Bowler. He then played one season each with the Jets and Redskins at the end of his career.

Hasselbeck spent 17 seasons in the NFL -- 10 with the Seattle Seahawks. His father, Don, was a teammate of Marshall's on the Giants and pledged his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation in 2010.

More than 1,800 former athletes and military veterans have pledged to donate their brains to the Concussion Legacy Foundation for CTE research. The progressive degenerative brain disease has been linked to repeated head trauma.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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