When you watch American Football, you quickly realize why all of the players are wearing comical amounts of padding. However, while the sport is fun to watch, it can be quite risky to play. Few sports in the professional world are as injury-riven as American Football. Injuries are common, and some can be permanent life-changing injuries. How dangerous is the sport, though?
Is the reputation fair, or has it become a caricature that does not stack up with reality?
An investigation currently being carried out by research teams at Buffalo’s SUNY has taken a look at twenty-one men who have played professional football or professional hockey. The men are in various age ranges, going from their 30s to their 70s. Each was studied compared to men who took part in less aggressive sports like cycling or swimming.
Intriguingly, the main discovery was that football and hockey players are more likely to suffer from clinical anxiety. They were more aware of the risk of brain conditions like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which is a disease caused primarily by head injuries.
However, they did find that ex-professional athlete were not any more predisposed to issues like dementia compared to people who played a non-contact sport. Despite being a small study, some are using this as proof that fears around CTE are simply an overblown myth.
Is that the case, though? It is hard to say. Most people who play sports like American Football know that it is, like boxing, a high-risk physical endeavor. It is not supposed to be easy, or free from risk. Indeed, the conclusion was compared with smokers: some get lung cancer, and others do not. The risks are there to be seen, and some footballers are going to get injured or left with semi-permanent or permanent trauma.
For many, that is the risk they take when they step on the field. For others, the potential for glory and fame is enough to take those risks. Could the sport still be as fun if it wasn’t as physically demanding? Hard to say. With this small sample, though, we hopefully can continue to learn more about the links between CTE, head injuries, dementia, and contact sports.