Thread: average life expectancy of NFL players is 55

Originally Posted by Dittohead not!

So, you think it's the NFL's fault? No one else has said that.

Herpdee derp

The opening sentence from the article you linked:

"The NFL is killing its players, literally leading them to an early grave -- and now the NFL is trying to kill them even faster. "

Originally Posted by lizzie

Alot of them are driven and successful, but it's their mental capabilities which take them to their level of success.

Mental vs physical capability isn't generally considered a defining feature of type A vs type B.

Originally Posted by the_recruit

Mental vs physical capability isn't generally considered a defining feature of type A vs type B.

Who said it is?

Originally Posted by lizzie

Who said it is?

you. you said lawyers, CEO's, etc aren't "as" type A because their work is mental in nature.

Originally Posted by lizze

CEO and presidents aren't necessarily type A as highly as those who play competitive sports (at least that's what I suspect). Alot of them are driven and successful, but it's their mental capabilities which take them to their level of success.

Originally Posted by StillBallin75

I think it has more to do with the fact that football's inherently a violent game, but that's just me.

While I can certainly see that having an effect, I just don't see that, in itself, shaving 2 decades off. I would be curious as to what the average life expectancy is of a non-NFL player who is just as big. You just don’t see that many huge people walking around old folks homes. Also, these guys consume a ton of calories to keep up with their training. Then one day they stop playing but my guess is they probably don’t change their eating habits all that much. And I am sure there are plenty of other factors as well.

Originally Posted by Risky Thicket

It has changed. Pro sports are about individual celebrity and money. I wish it weren't so. I used to follow pro sports and loved it. Baseball almost lost me and a lot of other people, but it seems to have been serious about cleaning up its act. It's a different game. NFL and NBA are different story. Tell me how Tebow isn't about ticket sales or how New Orleans shouldn't lose the franchise. You know I'm right, SB. Giving it up for the team in pro ball? LOLOLOL!

Much of it is, however, a great deal is also the need to compete in the professional's chosen field.

football's dangerous; boxing is probably worse, though. if people dig playing it, though, more power to them.

i got enough football for life between ages 12 and 16. didn't feel much of a sense of team because many of the guys were complete aholes. and it's just not a great game for a non-agressive person, although i did well. mostly just watch the superbowl now, and only because of the cultural event.

i'm glad that they're studying the head injury angle. hopefully it will lead to better equipment.

Originally Posted by Connery

Much of it is, however, a great deal is also the need to compete in the professional's chosen field.

There's no question. They are all gifted athletes but I'd submit as Cyndi Lauper once said, "Money changes everything." When the franchise is paying you 90 million dollars and the fans tread you like a god it is no longer a game. It's strictly business. Business means money for owners and money for the players.

College teams are the farm system for NFL and NBA and they have found a way to make millions upon millions. It's a business. Athletes are recruited on talent education is not the priority, sure they can get an education if they want. Standards for student athletes has changed along with the pressure to have winning teams and thugs with the slightest possible qualifications enter the game. The antics of Joe Willie Namath under Bear Bryant would go completely unnoticed these days. Rees, a QB at Notre Dame was arrested on a felony assault on a police officer last week. Ben Roethlisberger a sexual predator, Urban Myer letting player assault on a coach and drug arrests slide so that he wouldn't lose key players, countless players arrested on assault, domestic violence, theft, armed robbery and the college system send these thugs on up to the pros where they have hit lists as in New Orleans. Thugs know violence. Beginning in college they were rewarded and treated special for thuggery. The schools do/did their best to smooth thing over with the police and thuggery is rewarded. It's greatly rewarded in the NFL and NBA. It changes the way you must compete to win and it takes a toll on the players.

In a few more years you won't have kickoffs in the NFL and you won't be able to hit the quarterback. They may force players in the NBA to actually dribble to slow down the intensity of the game. If they can't control how hard you hit, they can control when you hit. They do that more and more to try to keep the street from destroying the games.

Originally Posted by the_recruit

you. you said lawyers, CEO's, etc aren't "as" type A because their work is mental in nature.

What I was saying is that CEO's and presidents aren't necessarily type A at all, and that their success may be from other traits they have. When you're a football player, you're pretty limited as to what you can do to succeed, unless you have another plan for when you're too old to be in the game anymore.

Originally Posted by Risky Thicket

There's no question. They are all gifted athletes but I'd submit as Cyndi Lauper once said, "Money changes everything." When the franchise is paying you 90 million dollars and the fans tread you like a god it is no longer a game. It's strictly business. Business means money for owners and money for the players.

College teams are the farm system for NFL and NBA and they have found a way to make millions upon millions. It's a business. Athletes are recruited on talent education is not the priority, sure they can get an education if they want. Standards for student athletes has changed along with the pressure to have winning teams and thugs with the slightest possible qualifications enter the game. The antics of Joe Willie Namath under Bear Bryant would go completely unnoticed these days. Rees, a QB at Notre Dame was arrested on a felony assault on a police officer last week. Ben Roethlisberger a sexual predator, Urban Myer letting player assault on a coach and drug arrests slide so that he wouldn't lose key players, countless players arrested on assault, domestic violence, theft, armed robbery and the college system send these thugs on up to the pros where they have hit lists as in New Orleans. Thugs know violence. Beginning in college they were rewarded and treated special for thuggery. The schools do/did their best to smooth thing over with the police and thuggery is rewarded. It's greatly rewarded in the NFL and NBA. It changes the way you must compete to win and it takes a toll on the players.

In a few more years you won't have kickoffs in the NFL and you won't be able to hit the quarterback. They may force players in the NBA to actually dribble to slow down the intensity of the game. If they can't control how hard you hit, they can control when you hit. They do that more and more to try to keep the street from destroying the games.

Yep money. Which is why the NFL is paying more attention to concussions and other such injuries. Also, IIRC the NFL wants to lengthen the season. There is no question that football is changing as a game and the product is being packaged for a wider, international audience. As fan I am sorry to see these changes, as a human being the level of violence needs to be addressed perhaps not by rule changes, but, better equipment, shortened seasons or a greater roster. Today's "Brady Ruled" football is a very frustrating sport to watch.