The NFL is donating $1 million for the study of brain injuries to Boston University School of Medicine.

The money will support the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy's research into the long-term effects of repetitive brain trauma in athletes, particularly football players. The NFL is the first sports league to financially support this research at the school.

CSTE researchers have been a driving force in providing evidence that repetitive blows to the head in sports can cause a degenerative brain disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE. The disease is associated with cognitive and behavioral problems later in life, and eventually causes dementia.