By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Slipping behind Monday's "top NFL news stories" - the consistently-great New England Patriots blown out on Monday Night Football, the Oakland Raiders firing their head coach (again), and the latest rash of NFL injuries - was a story that affects the game at a fundamental level.

A posthumous study on the brain of NFL player Jovan Belcher, who fatally shot his girlfriend before killing himself two years ago, revealed signs of the head-trauma disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). It's a very familiar story for football players who experience years of head-to-head physical contact, but the violence aspect links back to WWE wrestler Chris Benoit.

Dr. Julian Bailes, who has been at the center of CTE research, did not conduct the research on Belcher's brain. But, he pointed out the link to Benoit, who murdered his wife and child before committing suicide in June 2007.

"It is of great interest," Dr. Bailes told ESPN's Outside the Lines. "Violence against others is not typically part of the CTE picture. But it was in the case of wrestler Chris Benoit. It would be nice to have these findings corroborated. If correct, they're very compelling."

Wrestling author Irv Muchnick covered the findings on Belcher, noting back in 2012 that he talked to Dr. Bennet Omalu, who is considered the father of contemporary CTE research, if CTE could still be discovered if a person shoots himself in the head, as Belcher did. Dr. Omalu emphatically answered "Yes," according to Muchnick, which was confirmed this week when researchers noted they discovered the tau protein linked to CTE.

Coincidentally, Belcher played for the Kansas City Chiefs, who hosted ESPN and the NFL's showcase Monday Night Football game against the Patriots. But, the story and focus of Monday's NFL news remained on the field, rather than on events two years ago that affect the game at its core.

[ LINKS: ESPN Report HERE & Muchnick Report HERE ]

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