pro football players are dying young

[waltwal]

i think they could have asked me this question rather than spending money on a research program. i could have told them that 350 lb players who overexert themselves are likely to die young.

i am a fan of both football and boxing and i actually have come to the conclusion that boxing is a safer sport than pro football.

i wonder if anyone would give thought to 2 ideas. a weight limitation on players of around 300 lbs or an idea that i like better a fat percentage level limitation of around 20%. certain sports like football are going to be dangerous to your health and longevity but it seems like there could be some safety factors built into the sport. i just can't imagine being 350 lbs and running around on a football field in 100+ degree weather. it also doesn't make sense to me that a player who weighs 350 or so lbs does a lot of aerobic training.

[rkmsuf]

And they should slow down those damn Indy cars. I mean do they really need to go 200mph?

[Klinglerware]

I think Sports Illustrated did a story about this a few years ago: they profiled retired-NFL players, including some relatively younger (late 80s, early 90s) players like Joe Jacoby, discussing the long-term negative effects on their health (chronic pain, loss of functioning, more serious issues, etc). Interestingly, knowing now what professional football would eventually do to their bodies, almost to a man they all said that they still would do it all again in a heartbeat...

[waltwal]

i think there was a movement on to slow down indy cars a while back. i do know that the speeds at indy are significantly lower than land speed records so maybe there has been a movement to slow down the cars.

i don't think anyone is surprised by the admission from ex- players that they would do exactly the same thing all over again but that doesn't mean that steps cannot be taken to put limitations on weight or fat to improve a players safety. i don't think that either limitation would affect a viewers enjoyment of the game.

the reason players take steroids is to enhance their size and performance but that did keep those drugs from being banned.

[Dblbogey31]

i think there was a movement on to slow down indy cars a while back. i do know that the speeds at indy are significantly lower than land speed records so maybe there has been a movement to slow down the cars.

Cars attempting to break the land speed record don't have to turn or run 300-500 miles. NHRA Top Fuel dragsters, funny cars, and pro-stocks all run faster than Indy cars. The physical forces on the driver while turning at too high a speed has been a problem in the past. When IRL was first starting up they attempted to run at Texas Motor Speedway and an entire race was canceled due to intense G-forces placed on the drivers. This has since been fixed and IRL now runs at Texas.

As long as players continue to get bigger and faster the prolonged health of a professional athlete will be shorter than the Average Joe. I doubt many players would tell you it wasn't worth it on pay day.

[Raiders Army]

the reason players take steroids is to enhance their size
I actually heard the opposite. I heard steriods make the size of their member shrink.

[Jesse_Ewiak]

Probably the same reason pro wrestlers are dropping dead - steroids + 'other' drugs + stress = heart attack at 45.

[biological warrior]

And they should slow down those damn Indy cars. I mean do they really need to go 200mph? All they need to do is install a restrictor plate. It solves everything, especially boring races!http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/images/smilies/smile.gif