Retired NFL Players at a Great Risk

American Football is a very tough sport to be successful in. NFL players put their heart and soul into every throw, run, catch, and tackle in order to keep their jobs and make a name for themselves, putting themselves at risk to many physical and mental injuries. Deaths occur in football once in a while, paralysis is frequent, and concussions seem to be diagnosed every other game. Even after retiring, many players will find themselves in a constant struggle due to the nature of tackles and number of concussions they've had over their career from youth football on. Players can retire seemly fully healthy and develop problems later on.

For example, a recent study found that the percentage of dementia, a condition that leaves people almost unable to function, for people above the age of 50 is about 1%. For former NFL players, it was 6.1%. Even scarier is the numbers for people between 30 and 49. Only .1% of people in that age group have dementia, a tiny amount. For NFL players, it was 1.9% (19 times greater than the average).

Another study at the University of Michigan did a more general study on the mental health of retired players. It found that retired players were generally more depressed than other people their age, especially for people between 30 and 49. It also found that retired players seemed to have more control of their anger, however the researchers concluded that a majority of the players may have felt unwilling to acknowledge their acts of violence.

People don't seem to understand that it doesn't just take one huge hit to ruin a player's life; a consistent amount of what would be considered normal collisions and tackles can be just as dangerous. That is why these problems seem to be the most common in linemen, who literally run into each other every play. So if you question the amount of money that NFL players should be paid, think about what they will likely have to deal with in their future. Many of them will need it because they won't be able to support themselves and their families otherwise.