Parents of WSU QB who committed suicide say he had CTE

Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) when he took his own life on Jan. 16, his parents told the “Today” show on Tuesday.

Mark and Kym Hilinski said the Mayo Clinic studied their son’s brain and the results came back positive for the degenerative brain disease.

The Hilinskis were on “Today” to discuss their involvement in a Sports Illustrated documentary about their son’s death.

“The medical examiner said he had the brain of a 65-year-old, which is really hard to take,” Mark Hilinski said during the interview. “He was the sweetest, most outgoing, giving kid. That was difficult to hear.”

Tyler Hilinski, who was 21, was found dead in his apartment in Pullman, Wash. The Pullman police department issued a statement confirming his death and said that there was a suicide note and rifle near his body.

The official cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the coroner’s office.

Tyler Hilinski was a backup for the Cougars but started the team’s Holiday Bowl game against Michigan State in December. He completed 39 of 50 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in a 42-17 loss.

Tyler Hilinski was widely expected to be the starter heading into the 2018 season after ending last year 130-of-179 (72.6 percent) for 1,176 yards with seven TD passes and seven interceptions.

“There weren’t really any verbal signs from Tyler to us or to anybody at Washington State that he was suffering,” Kim Hilinski said.

A native of Claremont, Calif., Tyler Hilinski went to Upland High School in southern California before spending three years in Pullman.

–Field Level Media