Ralph Wenzel played guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers over the course of seven NFL seasons from 1966 to 1973. At the age of 52, some twenty years after his career ended, he began experiencing "significant memory lapses and other cognitive problems." It was the opinion of his wife, Eleanor Perfetto (who hold a Ph.D. in public health) that it was directly attributable to his playing time in the NFL.