Toronto Argonauts QB Kerry Joseph (4) throws under pressure from Winnipeg Blue Bomber Doug Brown (97) and Cam Hall (40) during first half CFL action in Winnipeg Friday, June 27, 2008.JOHN WOODS
The CFL wants to see proof the game puts athletes beyond the normal risks and seriously shortens their lives, as players were informed at their union meetings in Las Vegas last week.
CFL Players Association president Stu Laird passed along information to the player representatives in attendance and included a 2006 article from two U.S. doctors that stated the average life expectancy "for all pro football players, including all positions and backgrounds, is 55 years. Several insurance carriers say it is 51 years."
The article was authored by Michael Glueck and Robert Cihak, the latter a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive lineman Doug Brown talked and wrote about the information he received in Las Vegas and how it made him wonder if he'd be around to receive his Canada Pension Plan benefits at 65.
"I was a little depressed - just by the stuff we were inundated with," he said.
Michael Copeland, the CFL's chief operating officer, said the league is open to all issues concerning player safety, but wanted to know how the two doctors reached their conclusion.
Was it based solely on players competing in the four-down, smaller-field NFL? Was it done over a period of years? Decades?
The Globe and Mail was unable to contact Glueck or Cihak on Wednesday.
"I think it's always good to question things but we need to look at it in context and not draw conclusions until we see the research," Copeland said. "Sport, all sport, has some inherent risk. What we try to do as a league is reduce that risk as much as possible. We've done a very good job of making this an aggressive, entertaining game played with reasonable risks."
The CFLPA information blitz included a University of North Carolina report that stated NFL players who suffered repeated concussions had five times the rate of mild cognitive impairment (pre-Alzheimer's disease) than the average person. Retired NFL players were also 37-per-cent more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
Copeland outlined what the CFL has done, from implementing stricter rules to protect the quarterback to its first drug-testing program, which is already under way with random, out-of-season urine and blood tests.
"We were, as a league, ahead of al the other major leagues in 2009, when we had all our therapists observing concussion protocol policy," Copeland added. "We work with external research associations in terms of concussion research. It's top of mind for us. I think we've consistently shown a focus on health and safety."
The life expectancy of pro football players has been hotly debated for more than a decade. In some circles, the argument is based on simple assumption: It's a violent game, bad things happen; of course these guys don't live as long.
Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Ron Mix, now an attorney in San Diego, once documented the lives of several hundred former NFL players, then estimated two things: the average player will be 50-per-cent to 65-per-cent disabled with back and leg injuries and that his life expectancy will be 55 years.
In contrast, the website, oldestlivingprofootball.com, has written its calculations, from 1920 until now, show the average life span to be between 63 to 68 years.
"My intention was to give the players information that was already out there on the web so we can have an awareness of what the issues may be," Laird said. "It's information I haven't verified. But we take player safety seriously and I know the league does, too."