Study: NFL players may face higher risk of early death
League says it looks at all research to protect athletes
Playing professional football may increase the risk of dying young — or at least of suffering from brain disease.
A new study from the Journal of the
American Medical Association compared two groups of football players: those in the National Football League in the 1980s and those who were replacement players during the three-game strike of 1987. About 5% of the NFL players died by about age 49; the replacements lived an additional six years on average.
“Six years is a big difference in life expectancy,” said Donald Redelmeier, a professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, who reviewed the study but was not involved in it.
Although researchers said the finding was not statistically significant, meaning it could have happened by chance, the study contradicts studies that found NFL players live longer than other members of the public.
The study comes as the NFL has enhanced concussion protocols after more cases of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) have come to light.
NFL players are far from average, Redelmeier said. Other people of the same age and race as the players are probably less fit and earn less money. But some professional football players have active night lives, and some have used performance-enhancing drugs, which might counter the benefits of wealth and fitness, he said.
“At any given time, their risk of death was 38% higher than replacement players,” said Atheendar Venkataramani, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, who led the research.
In a statement, the NFL 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 study found that longtime professional players did not develop cancer more often than the replacement players and found that they actually died less often of heart disease. NFL players did seem more prone to neurological problems.
The finding suggests that trauma from head injuries might shorten players’ lives — or at least dramatically change them, said Steven DeKosky, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at the University of Florida College of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.