Reply #14: Playing with ruptured spleens [View All]

[lolly]

There was an article in the LATimes a couple months back about a player who kept on playing with ruptured spleen because he didn't want to look like a piker in front of his teammates.

It's probably available only for $ now, so I'm not going to try to find a link, but it was pretty disturbing. They don't want to admit when they've been seriously hurt because they want to look like "real men."

This could definitely lead to some serious health problems.

btw, does anyone know if that rumor about the very low life expectancy of pro football players is true? I remember something going around about it being 55 years, but I'm certain that must be an exaggeration. Still, does anyone know if there is an actual figure available.

On edit--Google really is my friend:

Strength isn't enough: NFL linemen have to be so big, their health may be at risk.

Damn, according to this, it is 55:

"A 1994 study of 7,000 former players by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health found linemen had a 52 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than the general population. While U.S. life expectancy is 77.6 years, recent studies suggest the average for NFL players is 55, 52 for linemen."