The average life expectancy of professional football players is 55

[Cheese]

"It is not a widely disseminated, downloaded or discussed fact that the average life expectancy for all pro football players, including all positions and backgrounds, is 55 years. Several insurance carriers say it is 51 years."

The article

"Men between the ages of 30 and 49 have a one in a thousand chance of being diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer's, or another memory related disease. An NFL retiree has a one in fifty-three chance of receiving the same diagnosis."

"Head to head lineman impact G-force," is 20 to 30 Gs. It also tells us that the, "G-force required for a fighter pilot to pass out," is five to six Gs. What happens to a lineman that plays 15 years of professional football and on average, experiences "head to head lineman impacts" 60 times a game, roughly 18 times a year?

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Wow, guess the big money isn't worth your life.

Be a kicker in the NFL, you'll live longer.

[troutman]

Very troubling if this data is correct.

What do we know about the life expectancy of boxers?

[TSXCman]

"G-force required for a fighter pilot to pass out," is five to six Gs.

hmmm, they are chucking out some random data. I flew in a front prop fight plane when I was 13 or so and pulled 7.2 Gs for a couple seconds. and had some continueous 5-6 G pulls for a while. That was in junior high with about 2 hours of training

[You Need a Thneed]

I've been thinking for a while that the NFL needs to seriously look into fixing this. Although, it's going to be impossible to get he rate to normal. The NFL needs to take care of it former players much better, AND their families.

There are too many stories out there of former players, basically broke from medical bills and physically disabled, and dying off early.

I don't know what the solution is, but the NFL has swept this kind of information under the rug for far too long.

Start with making the latest anti-concussion helmets mandatory.

[hkstylez]

I'm guessing MMA is probably around the same?

[Addick]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Although, it's going to be impossible to get he rate to normal. The NFL needs to take care of it former players much better, AND their families.

There are too many stories out there of former players, basically broke from medical bills and physically disabled, and dying off early.

How far would a $1 surcharge on every ticket go to help fixing the medical finances issue? Would it be practical?

I'd imagine that fans might not be too upset as ticket prices are always increasing and this increase would help some of their former heroes, or the sidekicks, who are in desperate need. Also, it wouldn't hurt the owners financially.

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by hkstylez

I'm guessing MMA is probably around the same?

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't think so. Fights in MMA are stopped rather quickly. Boxing may be the closer comparison due to the repetitive punches to the head.

[CofR]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1976014/

Researchers say they are hard-pressed to find current published medical studies that prove professional football players have a life expectancy of 55 years.
And the author of a 2006 article that startled CFL players last week – citing that a pro football player’s life expectancy is 51 to 55 – says he based his medical opinion article on a conversation with an insurance expert, not a medical study.

“That number of 55 has simply never been proven with any data, it has just floated around and been perpetuated by reporters too lazy to back up the facts,” said Chris Nowinski, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University, and founder of Sports Legacy Institute, which educates on concussion in sport.

In 1997, a study was done by the NFL along with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It found players are not dying younger than the U.S. life expectancy for males of 72. It did, however, conclude that linemen, due to their bulk, had a rate of heart disease much higher than the general population.

[CaptainCrunch]

I'm not surprised by that at all. They're job curtails them basically getting hit by a car 60 times a game.

Combine that with lineman who eat 10x what the normal person eats during their career and then for the most part keeps doing it after they retire but drop the training.

Its just to be honest, probably one of the most unsafe sports out there.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I'm not surprised by that at all. They're job curtails them basically getting hit by a car 60 times a game.

Combine that with lineman who eat 10x what the normal person eats during their career and then for the most part keeps doing it after they retire but drop the training.

Its just to be honest, probably one of the most unsafe sports out there.

Yeah, you should probably read the post above yours.