ESPN & KFF Surveys NFL Players Regarding Their Health and Life After Playing Football

New survey sheds light on long-term health and challenges of NFL players after retirement.
by |
Tags: , ,

ESPN and KFF have unveiled a groundbreaking polling and reporting project that offers insight into the health concerns and challenges NFL players face after retirement.

What’s Happening:

  • The ESPN/KFF Survey of 1988 NFL Players is based on responses from 546 of the 1,532 athletes who played that season.
  • With an average age of 62, a large portion of the former NFL players surveyed agree that pro football was bad for their health, but 90 percent of the group state that they would choose to play again.
  • Most say football brought positive benefits to their lives and relationships, despite the toll it took on their health.
  • The survey also revealed significant racial disparities, with Black players far more likely than White players to report serious health issues following their careers.
  • The survey centered on players from the 1988 season, inspired by the widow of former New Orleans Saints offensive lineman Daren Gilbert, who reached out to ESPN to share the challenges her late husband and teammates endured.
  • KFF/ESPN Survey of 1988 NFL Players was conducted October 17 – November 30, 2024, online and by telephone, among a representative sample of 546 former NFL players who played at least one game in the 1988 season.
  • See the data from ESPN and KFF’s polling here.

What They’re Saying:

  • Chris Buckle, ESPN Vice President, Investigative Journalism: “For the first time, we are able to truly gauge whether playing one of the most physical sports at the highest level is worth it. The survey responses are incredibly enlightening. Hearing such honest stories from players and their families about all the good and bad that comes alongside a pro football player’s life is especially moving, and how players view the next generation of would-be players from their families is fascinating."
  • Drew Altman, KFF President and CEO: “I was at the game with my dad in 1978 when the late Darryl Stingley of the New England Patriots was paralyzed for life after a hit to the head over the middle. The times have changed and the game may be safer today in some ways, but players now in their 60s tell us that living the pro football dream was worth whatever health and suffering has followed for them."

More ESPN News: