One of the touchstones of Dan Bickley's series on the NFL that I highlighted over the weekend was a study done by the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes.
In 2001, Dr. Keven Guskiewicz of the center re-analyzed the results from a study the NFL had conducted with Dr. Julian Bales of the West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1996 and 1997. In that study, almost 1,100 former NFL players ranging in age from 27 to 86 where asked about past injuries.
(You can find the press release announcing the results of the study here. The Web site for the center is here. Another article on Guskiewicz, who is also director of UNC's Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, can be found here.)
The results, needless to say, were pretty horrifying. To start, 61 percent of the respondents reported having suffered a concussion during their career. Despite this, 73 percent of those who actually suffered a concussion reported never being restricted from play because of it.
But of all of the study's findings, this one knocked me off my chair:
Sixteen percent were unable to dress themselves, 12 percent were incontinent of bowel or bladder and 11 percent reported being unable to feed themselves.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no agent working in support of the "Nanny State." Professional football players are grown men who can make decisions for themselves without my help. And if there's anybody out there who thinks they can make pro football "safe," I'm afraid they have another thing coming.
But the next time you attend an athletic event, make sure you take another look at the price of admission. And the next time you hear anyone complaining about how high ticket prices have become, think about the results of this study again. Because in the end, when you buy a ticket, you're paying for more than 60 minutes of thrills and excitement.
In fact, you're recompensing players for a post-football life that promises physical and mental incapacity, and even premature death.
This article is an excellent companion piece to this months “Real Sports” on HBO. They investigate the health risks linemen take in becoming 350+ lb bemoths, and that the NFL and NFLPA have nothing to say about it. All the linemen interviewed said that the rewards outweigh the risks, it’s part of the job, and they would deal with the health issues down the road. When said and done, pro football most likely will take some years off of a players life…
BTW, enjoy the site, visit it every day…