Primary Submission Category: Mortality
The Effect of Playing American Professional Football on Longevity
Authors: Rob Warren Gina Rumore
Presenting Author: Rob Warren*
Despite experiencing high rates of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and cardiovascular problems, a considerable body of recent research concludes that American professional football players (hereafter, “football players”) live longer than American men in general. Authors of prior research argue that the longevity-enhancing benefits of playing football (i.e., physical fitness, money) outweigh any costs associated with CTE, cardiovascular problems, and other health consequences. We hypothesize that these surprising findings are an artifact of flawed research designs and problematic comparison groups. Using data on 1,365 men drafted to play in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1950s—906 of whom ultimately played professional football and 459 of whom never played a single game in any professional league—we estimate the effect of playing American professional football on longevity; we also consider heterogeneity in that effect across playing position. In contrast to most prior research, we find that there were no longevity benefits to playing American professional football in this era. Indeed, men drafted to be offensive or defensive linemen died almost two years earlier if they played professionally as compared to drafted linemen who never played a single game; men drafted to play other positions who subsequently played professionally died no earlier (or later) than drafted men who never played. Prior evidence—which typically finds a substantial longevity benefit to playing American professional football—used flawed research designs.