Dave Duerson suicide leaves behind many questions 

• Reprints

Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

As an East Coast university prepares to study Dave Duerson’s brain, a West Coast neurologist says patience should be exercised before linking the former Bears safety’s suicide to football-related head injuries.

“We don’t know if he actually suffered from CTE [Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy] yet, because you wouldn’t know that,” said Dr. Vernon Williams, a neurologist and medical director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology in Los Angeles. “The only way to determine that is from autopsy, so this would just be speculation.

“There are other features and things that could also be responsible for erratic behavior or a depressed mood that could be completely ­unrelated to CTE. Clearly, there are people who commit suicide who have never been exposed to a career in the National Football League.”

A lot remains gray since Duerson took his life in his Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., home on Thursday with a gunshot wound to the chest. Yet Duerson had enough foresight to insist to relatives via text messages that they donate his brain, and his family obliged by contacting the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine, which received a $1 million gift from the NFL ­because of its efforts to ­research head trauma in sports, including football players.

What is clear, however, are Duerson’s many financial challenges.

In September 2010, Duerson filed for personal bankruptcy, listing $34.6 million in assets and $14.7 million in liabilities. Nearly all of the assets consisted of an uncollected Wisconsin judgment against food processing companies involved in a 2004 lawsuit initiated by Duerson Foods LLC.

Other assets included a 2002 Cadillac Escalade with 140,000 miles in “fair” condition with a value of $5,750; golf clubs valued at $100, and a Northern Trust checking account containing $846.

Liabilities included $23,000 in credit-card debt owed to Bank of America; a $214,000 mortgage and a $233,000 second mortgage on his Sunny Isles Beach residence; $47,000 in 2001 income tax owed to the state of Wisconsin; $70,000 owed to his ex-wife as part of a 2009 marital settlement; $4 million owed to the Associated Bank of Chicago; $9 million owed to Greenline Capital Partners, and $573,000 owed to the Kenosha (Wis.) Area Business Alliance Inc.

Duerson’s filing listed monthly income of $2,800 and expenses of $6,139. Three months before filing for bankruptcy, Duerson sold a 2001 Mercedes, a wedding ring and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for $15,200.

But in December 2010, Duerson’s ex-wife, Alicia Duerson of Highland Park, filed a complaint with the bankruptcy court alleging that Duerson had not listed all his assets, including two Super Bowl rings, a Rolex watch, a bronze trophy awarded for being named Walter Payton Man of the Year, and a Chippendale desk.

“It’s shocking,” former Bears safety Doug Plank said. “How does a person with that much success in his life from a professional and personal standpoint get to a point where he feels the best solution is to take his life?

“I hope some of the things he suffered, injuries and things like that from his playing career, didn’t play into it.”

Plank hopes that partly for selfish reasons — because Plank was known for his hard-hitting style, and he worries about his future.

“It’s frightening,” Plank said. “I’m not going to tell you I haven’t walked into a few rooms, and a couple ­seconds later wondered why I walked in there and thought ‘I hope this isn’t the beginning.’  ”

Williams said football players — even those in high school — can struggle with the effects of CTE. Early symptoms can include erratic behavior; later symptoms can include movement disorders.

“We know when people have head injuries, particularly in the frontal lobe, it can have significant effects on their personality,” Williams said. “Part of the theory on this has to do with the parts of the brain that seem to be affected. They are often the same parts of the brain that are in control of your emotions.”

He added that some people may suffer disinhibition, saying or doing things completely out of character.

One source said Duerson was devastated when he was ousted from the University of Notre Dame board of trustees, which he served on from 2001-2005. A former Fighting Irish captain, Duerson was the recipient of the Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award in 1990 by the Notre Dame Monogram Club.

“Dave loved Notre Dame, really loved that place,” a close friend of Duerson’s said. “He loved being on the board and being the first African American to fill a position.”

Duerson had other impressive credentials, including earning an MBA from Harvard and serving on the executive committee of the NFL Players Association.

But despite his accomplishments, he endured numerous challenges, and one source said he seemed ­despondent at the recent reunion for the 1985 Bears Super Bowl team.

“Unfortunately, he has had some financial problems,” former Bears coach Mike Ditka said. “I didn’t know he was having those kinds of problems.

“I’m sure that was probably the biggest thing. That can put a lot of pressure on you when things are going bad financially and you’re having family problems.”

Contributing: Mike Mulligan and Neil Hayes