A new study from the Matthew Gfellar Center at UNC–Chapel Hill is challenging long-standing assumptions about what predicts long-term health problems in former NFL players.
Instead, they determined that an athlete’s concussion history is a much more accurate indicator of who may face long-term health challenges.
The research team began with a straightforward question: Do career length or playing position predict long-term health outcomes in former NFL athletes? Their findings show they do not. Although these measures are frequently used as proxies for head injury exposure, the data revealed they fail to identify which athletes experience worse health later in life.
The study suggests that future research, and possibly future health guidelines, should rely on verified concussion history rather than assumptions based on role or time spent in the league.
“It is often thought that certain positions are at higher risk of sustaining concussion, which may be related to shorter playing careers and worse long-term health outcomes, but that’s not what we found,” said Wesley Cole, co-investigator and first author of the paper.
This research—part of the multisite NFL-LONG project—is one of the most comprehensive examinations of former professional football players to date. Unlike previous studies, the team analyzed years played and position alongside concussion history, sleep, pain levels, and other health factors.
“When we took concussion history and other health and demographic factors like sleep and pain into account, neither playing position nor years played were linked to poorer long-term mental or physical health outcomes,” said J.D. DeFreese, co-investigator and co-author.
The full study is available in Current Sports Medicine Reports.