As an additional speculation, linemen are required to be bulky and have relatively huge protein-rich diets. If a retired lineman stops training but maintains that diet, it’s an invitation to obesity and heart disease.
That’s assuming, of course, the statistic is true.
OK, I’ve had a little look around for the source of that stat, and it would appear it comes from either a 1994 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that seems to be no longer available on the 'Net, or from a vaguely-identified 2003 “peer-reviewed medical study”, the title or authors of which I have not yet found. From the numerous blog entries I found that mention either item, it would appear that the main cause of the early demise of NFL linemen is cardiovascular disease, related in part to a diet regimen that emphasises sheer bulk (the average wieght of a football lineman is now above 300 lbs and linemen today are apparently an average of 100 lbs heaver than they were a few decades ago), and partly because many suffer from severe sleep apnea as a side effect of their bulk.
So, assuming all the above is correct, the OP was more or less right in one relatively narrow sense: success at some positions in professional football requires diet and training regimens that pretty much guarantees a shorter lifespan. OTOH, what is the overall life expectancy for males weighing in excess of 300 lbs, but who don’t play football?
I agree that most professional sports, and many college sports, have outrun the bounds of sanity. I would point to the case ofLyle Alzado. His steroid use in order to excel at football killed him at 42. The former high school football coach here played football for UCLA and the San Francisco 49ers and his knees and legs were in such bad shape that it was painful to just watch him walk.
However, that’s not my main objection. Children who show athletic talent are noticed early. They are pushed to excel, and catered to throughout their lives and in many cases, if not the great majority, wind up as spoiled brats. I’m tired of hearing that big league shortstops who hit .200 and drive in one run every six months are pissed because the team won’t pay them $5 million a year.
That’s why I pay no attention to professional or college sports any more.
Alzado died of a brain tumor. The only one who ever connected that tumor to his steroid use was Alzado himself - not his doctors.
One thing to consider when you look at the NFL life expectancy stat is the age of those players. If they’re dying now at 55, they likely retired 20 years ago. In the 70s and 80s, linemen were much smaller than they are today - the Hogs of the Redskins, who were famous for being a huge offensive line, averaged about 270 pounds each; the smallest o-linemen playing in the league today is 280. 20 years ago, a 300 pound lineman was unheard of - remember how big a deal was made of Refrigerator Perry? The guys who are dying so young weren’t 300 pounds - they were closer to 260.