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Thursday, February 2, 2006
Bulky NFL players risk early death
Those dead by 50 often were obese, had heart disease
The amazing athletes of the National Football League -- bigger and stronger than ever before -- are dying young at a rate experts find alarming, and many of the players are succumbing to ailments typically related to weight.
The heaviest athletes are more than twice as likely to die before their 50th birthday than their teammates, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study of 3,850 professional football players who have died in the last century.
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Most of the 130 players born since 1955 who have died were among the heaviest athletes in sports history, according to the study. One-fifth died of heart diseases, and 77 were so overweight that doctors would have classified them as obese, the study found.
The bone-crushing competitiveness of professional football is spawning hundreds of these behemoths -- many of whom top the scales at 300 pounds or more -- and the pressure to "supersize" now extends to younger players in college and high school.
Both the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers have big guys on their rosters. The biggest Seahawk is Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack, at 333 pounds. The Steelers' Max Stark weighs in at 337.
As Americans anticipate Sunday's Super Bowl -- the annual orgy of admiration for the NFL and its athletes -- physicians are increasingly questioning whether, by bulking up for their shot at fame and fortune, players are sacrificing their health later in life.
"Clearly, these big, fat guys are having coronaries," said Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor of health policy and sport science.
The trend lines are even more disturbing.
Twenty years ago, it was rare for a player to weigh 300 pounds. But more than 500 players were listed at that weight or more on NFL training-camp rosters last summer -- including San Francisco 49ers guard Thomas Herrion, who collapsed and died after an exhibition game in August.
The relatively recent explosion in the number of 300-pound linemen "presents a frightening picture in terms of what we might expect 20 years from now," said Dr. Sherry Baron, who studied the issue in 1994 for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Baron's study, conducted at the request of the NFL Players Association, found that although players generally weren't dying sooner than average, offensive and defensive linemen had a 52 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than the general population. The threat isn't lost on retired players, who acknowledge that they are spooked by the potential problems they now face.
"Do you see any oversized animals anywhere in the world living a long life?" asked Tony Siragusa, a 340-pound defensive tackle for 12 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens. "We're pretty much on our own here."
The Scripps Howard study tracked the deaths of 3,850 pro football players born since 1905. Medical examiners and coroners were contacted to determine the causes of death for the 130 players who died before age 50. The study found:
The NFL has expressed concern about whether players are obese and risking health problems.
Forgotten in the frenzy surrounding Super Bowl XL is the tragic way the season started. The 6-foot-3, 315-pound Herrion collapsed in the 49ers' locker room after the team's preseason game Aug. 20 in Denver. An autopsy showed that his heart was scarred and oversized and that heart disease had blocked his right coronary artery. He was only 23.
Defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry almost single-handedly brought 300- pounders into vogue when he became a pop sensation for the Chicago Bears. As a goal-line running back, he bulled his way to a touchdown in Super Bowl XX in 1986. Perry, who topped out at 370 pounds during his career, said he has actually gained some weight in retirement but tries not to dwell on the risks.
"I've been big all my life," Perry said. "Mental attitude is as important as your physical condition after the NFL. I try to keep a happy balance."
Several retired players said they believe that losing weight is an issue of life or death.
"We've all got to remember to shed that armor when our NFL career is over," said Jim Lachey, who is 25 pounds lighter since the days he weighed 294 while an offensive tackle for San Diego, Oakland and Washington from 1985 to 1995. "But, I know, there are others with injuries that prevent them from running and doing the things they must do to shed the weight."
Tony Mandarich -- nicknamed "The Incredible Bulk" while playing guard at 325 pounds for the Green Bay Packers -- said he gained even more weight after retiring and soon was put on high-blood-pressure medicine.
"My doctor asked me, 'How many 320-pound men who are 80 years old do you see walking around?' That's when the light bulb came on over my head," Mandarich said.
He changed his diet, began hiking and mountain-biking regularly, and shed 60 pounds. "That doesn't mean I won't die of a heart attack at 39, but I've given myself the best chance," said Mandarich, who is 39 now.
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