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Former Notre Dame football player Ethan Johnson, 32, is declared ‘missing and endangered’ near Portland a decade after suffering a traumatic brain injury as police warn he suffers from mental health issues
- Ex-Notre Dame football player Ethan Johnson is ‘missing and endangered’
- He was last seen in Vancouver, Washington, outside of Portland, Oregon
- Once a top recruit, Johnson suffered a concussion as he tried out for the Chiefs
- The 32-year-old has battled health issues related to the head trauma ever sinceÂ
- Local police have warned that he may have gone off his medicationÂ
- Click here for all your latest international Sports news from DailyMail.comÂ
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Former Notre Dame football player Ethan Johnson has been declared missing and endangered by Vancouver, Washington police, who say he has suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Johnson, a Fighting Irish defensive lineman from 2008 until 2011, was last seen near his Portland, Oregon-area home near the Columbia River.
Police also said Johnson, 32, is supposed to be on medication, but may not be doing so, according to Portland’s KATU. He reportedly suffers from schizo-effective disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and depression. If seen, police have asked that witnesses do not attempt to contact him, but rather, alert authorities instead.
One ranked as one of the best defensive line prospects in the country, Johnson turned down scholarships from powerhouses like USC and Michigan before accepting an offer from Notre Dame, where he started four games as a freshman.
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He tried to make the NFL as an undrafted free agent, but suffered a significant concussion as he attempted to make the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster in 2013.
Johnson was later listed as a plaintiff in the class-action concussion lawsuits against the NFL.
‘Getting fired from my first job because of a concussion still leaves a bad taste in my mouth,’ Johnson told Rolling Stone in 2014. ‘I went to Kansas City’s camp and I felt like I was doing alright and then I got injured. I was concussed. I was technically still concussed and still under doctor’s care when they released me. The GM and the coach said they hadn’t seen enough to keep me.
‘It was a punt drill, one-on-one and I just took a hit to the helmet and got knocked on my butt,’ he said, describing the injury. ‘I didn’t get knocked out. A lot of people think you have to get knocked out to get a concussion. Not true. I was just dazed and my head hurt.’
He ultimately returned to his high school, where he worked as a tutor.
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