By It’s the time of year again when Americans tune into all things football. We are a nation that loves it so much, in fact, that during the 2014 viewing season there were 202.3 million unique viewers who tuned in to watch the games (1). What many of the football fans are not aware of, however, is that many of the players they see on the field will go on to experience chronic pain once their professional career has come to a close.
Survey research that has been conducted found that nearly half of all the retired professional football players commonly experienced pain (2). Additionally, they report that many of those with the pain end up suffering from depression as well. Interestingly, about half of the former football players who were invited to take part in the survey chose not to. This means that the number of former professional football players who go on to experience chronic pain could be even higher than what is being reported.
Another problem that is becoming a pain for the NFL is that former players have come together to file a lawsuit. The hundreds of players in the suit claim that the NFL, including their trainers, doctors, and team medical staff, provided players with pain killers to keep getting them out on the field (3). A survey of former players has found that 52 percent of them were using prescription pain medication during their football career, with 60 percent of them citing trainers and coaches as the ones who provided the pain meds (4).
While it remains to be seen whether this lawsuit will get dismissed as the prior one did, with the judge referring the matter to collective bargaining, or it leads to any kind of changes will be interesting to watch unfold. In the meantime, as people tune in to watch their weekly football games this season they have a little more understanding about what the players on the field are going through. While it may at times be painful to watch a favorite team lose, when a good portion of those players leave the field for the last time they do so with chronic pain.
Source:
- TVBytheNumbers. NFL 2014 TV Recap. < http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/01/09/nfl-2014-tv-recap-202-million-viewers-game-viewership-nearly-triples-broadcast-primetime/348433>
- Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2007 Apr;39(4):599-605.
- Los Angeles Times. Former NFL Players’ lawsuit claims teams pushed painkillers on them. <http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-former-nfl-players-lawsuit-painkillers-20150521-story.html>
- ThinkProgress. Lawsuit alleges NFL handed out painkillers illegally to keep players playing. <http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2015/05/22/3661935/hundreds-former-players-sue-nfl-use-painkillers/>>
