NFL Players With Long and Short Careers Have Similar Death Risk, Study Finds (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared 2,933 athletes who played in the National Football League for an average of five years to 879 "replacement players" who filled in for three games during a mid-1980s strike, finding no statistically significant difference in rates of death from all causes. Critics said the research had several flaws and pointed to a study released last year that found 99 percent of deceased former NFL players whose brains were analyzed post-mortem showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease linked to repeated hits to the head that can lead to aggression and dementia. The latest study found that the leading cause of death among the NFL career players was cardiometabolic disease, which entails greater risk of heart attack and stroke, followed by transportation injuries and unintentional injuries.

"This new study seems to support other previous studies that have not shown an increase in mortality among NFL players when compared to similar cohorts," an NFL spokeswoman said. "As with all new research on this topic, we will look at it closely to see what we can learn to better enhance the well-being of our current and former players," the spokeswoman said.

Comments

It's time.

[Gravis Zero]

It's time we start ending school sponsored football programs. There are plenty of other sports that don't involve brain damage. I'm not saying outlaw it, just don't promote it at schools.

Re:It's time.

[argStyopa]

Or maybe let people make up their own minds instead of taking a nanny state approach?

My father played football, including division 1 collegiate, until he was knocked cold while tackling Jim McNamara. He woke up the next day in his dorm room, had trouble reading ever since (which we know now for sure was a result). At age 70, he suffered a massive paralyzing stroke which may very well have been a result of umpteen concussions.

I played football in high school and was being recruited for college play but was unable to continue due to significant injuries to my knees and back, as well as a dislocated shoulder, broken ankle, and 7 bones in my hands on one instance.

My oldest son played football in high school and college, having an injury free career until 2 concussions left him with some memory issues.

My sister asked us all the other day at dinner if we would play again, knowing what we would have to suffer. My answer was easy, as my injuries have only left me now a little pain & slow to get up it 50. Even I was surprised when both my father and son absolutely, immediately, said yes as well.

So maybe you don't choose for us, and let people make their now better informed choices by themselves ?

A football career doesn't start in the NFL

[Pinky's Brain]

They start their competitive career in inducing brain damage in high school.

Why would it kill you any sooner? Headaches aren't lethal and you don't need to be a genius to get old. It's about quality of life, not duration. Of course for NFL millionaires it might all be worth it, it's the much larger number of players who don't get drafted but are still forced to live with migraines and other fun consequences of concussions who are the real losers.

Re:A football career doesn't start in the NFL

[Aighearach]

And guys like these "replacement" players, who were obviously already playing frequently. It isn't like the brought in tennis players during the strike, they were all still football players putting enough time into it that they were aspiring pros! So even if the problem was early death rather than quality of life, this would still not really be very significant; just comparing players with fancy uniforms to players who only got to wear fancy uniforms a few times.

Re:A football career doesn't start in the NFL

[Kiuas]

They start their competitive career in inducing brain damage in high school.

Why would it kill you any sooner? Headaches aren't lethal and you

Erm... as someone who's had cerebral palsy since birth due to damage to the motor cortex caused during a premature birth I have some news for you: the consequences of brain damage are not limited to headaches and migraines.

It's about quality of life, not duration.

Exactly. And if you look at what chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which to my knowledge is the most common neurodegenerative condition for contact sport athletes with repeated head injury causes, you'll find a whole host of symptoms, quoting the wiki:

Symptoms of CTE, which occur in four stages, generally appear 8 to 10 years after an athlete experiences repetitive mild traumatic brain injury.

First-stage symptoms include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as confusion, disorientation, dizziness, and headaches. Second-stage symptoms include memory loss, social instability, impulsive behavior, and poor judgment. Third and fourth stages include progressive dementia, movement disorders, hypomimia, speech impediments, sensory processing disorder, tremors, vertigo, deafness, depression and suicidality.

Additional symptoms include dysarthria, dysphagia, cognitive disorder such as amnesia, and ocular abnormalities, such as ptosis.

The condition manifests as dementia, or declining mental ability, problems with memory, dizzy spells or lack of balance to the point of not being able to walk under one's own power for a short time and/or Parkinsonism, or tremors and lack of coordination. It can also cause speech problems and an unsteady gait. Patients with DP may be prone to inappropriate or explosive behavior and may display pathological jealousy or paranoia

Now, I don't know about you, but to me these are all things which impact one's quality of life significantly and are far more serious than headaches.

Soccer, too.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

It's time we start ending school sponsored football programs. There are plenty of other sports that don't involve brain damage.

Soccer, too. That involves hitting the ball with your head, hard, repeatedly, and was shown to be causing brain damage even before (pigskin-style) football.

Re:Soccer, too.

[Gravis Zero]

It's time we start ending school sponsored football programs. There are plenty of other sports that don't involve brain damage.

Soccer, too. That involves hitting the ball with your head, hard, repeatedly, and was shown to be causing brain damage even before (pigskin-style) football.

Soccer has an easy fix, just prohibit hitting the ball with your head.

Re:Soccer, too.

[AmiMoJo]

Various professional football (soccer) bodies are looking at banning heading the ball for this reason. A lot of trainers don't allow younger players to do it already.

Re:Yeah right

[PopeRatzo]

Billions of dollars are at stake with the NFL. You think that is just going to evaporate?

Boxing was the biggest sport in the world at one time. At all levels from CYO to Golden Gloves to amateur to pros. At all weight classes. In our lifetime. Now they struggle to find enough boxers to fill a card, and it's just a footnote. Yes, it can all evaporate. Pop Warner and high school programs are already hurting in most of the US because kids don't want to play football or their parents won't let them. Maybe it will become a regional sport, like NASCAR, but the end is just over the horizon for football as a national sport.

I love football, but it's on its way out. I don't think there is a way to save it.