NFL Careers Decreasing?

Football, Health, Media, NFL, Sports

image

Over the years, we have discovered the short and long term health issues with players who played in the NFL. I haven’t seen the movie “Concussion” yet starring Will Smith (it’s on my “to-do” list) but one of my good friends has. In a nut shell, he decided that his son won’t be playing football. Since the new year, we found out Calvin Johnson plans to retire, Marshawn Lynch put a picture of his cleats hanging on a telephone wire on Instagram, and Jerod Mayo became the latest to announce his retirement. Not only are these big name stars that’s retiring, but they’re retiring at a young age.

image
Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson is 30. Marshawn Lynch and Jerod Mayo are 29 years old. 2 of the 3 have won the Superbowl and all of them have been Pro Bowlers. All 3 of them are in the prime of their careers, even though all of them have been dealing with injuries. The fact is each one of them can compete at an elite level, but they are choosing to leave on their own terms. Barry Sanders retired at 30 and he wanted to leave before his body got taken apart (and that’s before we found out about the multiple health issues with football nowadays).

image
Marshawn Lynch

After hearing about Junior Seau’s unfortunate death, I believe current NFL players are starting to pay attention to their long term health. Seau died to a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the chest in 2012. However, it was discovered that he had suffered brain damage from playing football. I’m not saying that was the cause of his death but you never know if it played any part of it.

image
Junior Seau

When you see plays like this (click here), you start to wonder how much of an impact is that really having on a human. Adrian Coxson, former Green Bay Packers wide receiver, retired last summer. He was carted off on an ambulance due to a severe concussion. He said his next hit could be his last and therefore retired. He’s 23 years old. At this rate, the only positions with longevity is going to be quarterbacks (because of the rules), kickers, and punters.

image
Adrian Coxson

If I were the NFL, I would be concerned with the early retirements that has occurred within the past month. I know Roger Goodell has attempted to make the game safer by adjusting the rules but there’s only so much you can to make a physical sport “safe”. Only time will tell what’s going to happen next, but I expect this trend of early retirements to grow.

JGOOD

19 thoughts on “NFL Careers Decreasing?”

  1. Fortunately for the game, they’re at least bringing attention to the needs of the players when it comes to the injuries. The most important is tackling the concussion crisis. If coaches and players would take concussions more seriously and allow for proper healing time once concussions are sustained, it would probably cut down MAJORLY on brain damage.

    As far as other injuries go, running backs/fullbacks are always going to retire pretty early because they probably get hit the most on the field and with the most force.

    Even if more players start retiring early, I won’t start worrying until players stop playing football at the early stages, because they decide it’s too dangerous a sport. Great insight.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. The average life span of a career in the NFL is 3-5 years. I agree, if players take concussions and concussion protocols more seriously then we would definitely see a lot less injuries in that department.

      Like

      Reply
  5. Pingback: One Lovely Blog Award | Dialogue from the Depths

  6. Kudos to these players for recognizing the long-term effects of their injuries and getting out early. Concussions are serious and it’s about time these and other injuries are being taken more seriously by the players. Currently a large group of hockey players are involved in a lawsuit against the NHL and this could have a huge impact on the future of contact sports in general. I hope so! You have a great blog here…thanks for visiting and following mine.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. To accept, you have to follow the steps listed in the Rules… essentially, publish a blog acceptance post, listing 7 random facts about you and nominate a bunch of blogs you like.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. A similar question is being asked of rugby… are we seeing too many incidents of concussion? I agree that the attention that is being given to sports injuries is good but wonder if it meansa new type of game will be created.
    However, head injuries occur in other contact sports I.e. gaelic football , hurling etc but as already pointed out perhaps longer recovery time is required.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment