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Last Updated: December 16, 2025

From the Gridiron to Conservatorship for Dementia: Safeguarding a Former Football Star with CTE

Written by: Ariel Latzer, Associate |

Reviewed by: Cliff Melnick, Partner |

Approved by: Shawn Kerendian, Managing Partner

Most people imagine an elderly adult with obvious cognitive impairment when they think of conservatorships — or, at the other extreme, a public figure whose troubling behavior has made headlines. Rarely do they imagine someone who appears young, strong and outwardly capable.

Yet in this conservatorship case, the person in need of protection was a nationally recognized former executive whose history of repeated concussions from college football and a later car accident had led to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Despite looking physically healthy, his cognitive decline was severe: He disappeared for several days, prompting a police search, and later, could not explain where he had been. His inability to reason clearly or advocate for himself made independent living unsafe.

Continue reading to learn how Keystone demonstrated the necessity of a conservatorship for a CTE patient despite his relatively young age — and how our conservatorship attorneys helped secure the protective arrangement needed to keep him safe and properly supported.

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What Happened

Cognitive impairment in individuals who appear otherwise young and healthy can often hide in plain sight. For our client’s brother, a former executive nationally recognized for his salesmanship, years of repeated concussions from college football and other competitive contact sports, compounded by injuries from a serious car accident, eventually took their toll. He was ultimately diagnosed with a form of dementia known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), leaving him unable to hold even a minimum-wage job.

Because our client’s brother could no longer appreciate the consequences of his actions, reason logically or advocate for himself, he required assistance to ensure his health and safety. This urgency of the situation became abundantly clear when he wandered off for several days — prompting a police search — and later could not fully explain his whereabouts during that time.

Our client’s brother appeared physically healthy and was far younger than the typical resident, so many care facilities — which primarily serve immobile, elderly individuals — were reluctant to take him on. However, when it became clear his situation was no longer tenable without a conservatorship, his sister turned to Keystone for help.

How Keystone Was Able to Help

Our client asked Keystone to seek her appointment as conservator of both the person and estate of her brother, and within just a few months of filing for conservatorship, Keystone delivered.

Despite our client’s brother, the conservatee, having no assets of his own, Keystone successfully obtained a conservatorship of the estate, enabling our client, his sister, to manage his government benefits and ensure those funds were used properly for his care.

Keystone also secured her appointment as conservator of the person, which expanded her ability to choose from a wider selection of secured-perimeter care facilities, including those that require residents to be conserved, ensuring her brother could be placed in an environment that met his specific cognitive and social needs.