Since Nowinski's departure from WWE and the publication of his book "Head Games", he has garnered a significant amount of media attention, making numerous appearances on networks such as ESPN and CNN to discuss sports-related head injuries. On June 14, 2007 Nowinski and Robert Cantu founded "The Concussion Legacy Foundation" (CLF) in Boston, Massachusetts in reaction to medical research indicating brain trauma in sports had become a public health crisis. Postmortem analysis of the brain tissue of former contact sports athletes was revealing that repetitive brain injuries, both concussions and subconcussive blows, could lead to the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In addition, an absence of awareness and education on concussions, specifically proper diagnosis and management, was allowing the disease to proliferate. Finally, with brain trauma becoming the signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this research/education model could also be applied to the military.