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George Will's False Argument Against Football
Townhall.com ^ | August 8, 2012 | Terry Jeffrey

Posted on 08/08/2012 4:58:42 AM PDT by Kaslin

Those who have convinced themselves that American football is incurably violent and shortens the life expectancy of those who play it -- I am thinking of George Will -- ought to read the study the American Journal of Cardiology published in March on the mortality of former NFL players.

Men who played in the NFL for at least five years over a period of three decades, the study demonstrated, had a lower mortality rate than the general population of American males.

However, in The Washington Post on Sunday, George Will wrote: "Various unsurprising studies indicate high early mortality rates among linemen resulting from cardiovascular disease. For all players who play five or more years, life expectancy is less than 60; for linemen it is much less."

The definitive study says otherwise.

A group of researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health -- including Sherry L. Baron, M.D., Misty J. Hein, Ph.D., Everett Lehman and Christine Gersic -- conducted a study of mortality among 3,439 men who had played at least five years in the NFL between 1959 and 1988. Their report appeared in Volume 109, Issue 6 of the American Journal of Cardiology.

"Overall," the study concluded, "retired NFL players from the 1959 through the 1988 seasons showed decreased all-cause and (cardiovascular disease) mortalities compared to a referent United States population of men."

How could this be? How could men who most likely played four years of high-school football and then four years of college football before they even stepped foot on an NFL field -- where they would play for at least another five years -- end up having a lower mortality rate than men who did not play in the NFL?

"Players' overall decreased mortality risk is likely explained by several factors," said the researchers.

For one, they are less likely to smoke. For another: "Players' body composition and high fitness levels likely contribute to their lower than expected overall mortality compared to the general United States population, especially given their increased size."

The NIOSH study said that in a group of 3,439 American male peers of the NFL veterans', 625.2 would have been expected to die by the end of 2007. Among the actual 3,439 NFL veterans, only 334 had died.

By a ratio of 126-to-186.2, NFL veterans were also less likely than their peers to die specifically of cardiovascular disease.

But what about Will's claims that "linemen" who play more than five years have a life expectancy "much less" than 60 and that there are "high early mortality rates among linemen resulting from cardiovascular disease"?

The NIOSH study divided the NFL players into three rough categories: 1) punters, kickers, quarterbacks, wide receivers and defensive backs, 2) halfbacks, fullbacks, linebackers, offensive ends and tight ends, and 3) offensive and defensive linemen. It discovered that all three categories -- including offensive and defensive linemen -- had overall mortality rates lower than the general population.

What the study did find is that defensive linemen -- but not offensive linemen -- had a higher mortality rate from cardiovascular disease in particular than their peers in the general population. This held true even when the data were controlled for body mass index and ethnicity, factors that correlate in the population with a higher mortality rate from cardiovascular disease.

In his column, Will pointed to three former NFL players -- Ray Easterling, Dave Duerson and Junior Seau -- who committed suicide in the past two years. Brain tissue from Easterling and Duerson, Will notes, showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Seau's brain tissue is being studied. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says CTE is caused "by repetitive blows to the head over a long period of time."

The NIOSH study indicated that NFL alumni are less likely to commit suicide than others. Whereas 21.8 men would have killed themselves in the general population, only nine NFL veterans did.

But the question about brain injury among NFL players is a serious one. In the NIOSH study, 12 of 3,439 players died of diseases of the nervous system and sense organs. Only 9.7 men in the general population would have died of these causes. NIOSH soon will complete a study examining in greater detail the mortality in this small group of former NFL players.

"Now, however," Will wrote, "accumulating evidence about new understandings of the human body -- the brain, especially, but not exclusively -- compel the conclusion that football is a mistake because the body is not built to absorb, and cannot be adequately modified by training or protected by equipment to absorb, the game's kinetic energies."

On ABC's "This Week," he said this was true "even further down to high school."

Will referred to football fans as "a tribe not known for savoring nuance." But Will's own column needed more of it.

Football provides its greatest service not to those who watch it but to those who play. The vast majority of football players are not professionals but amateurs -- including the 1,108,441 high-school boys who, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, played in 2010 alone.

The rules can and should protect high-school boys from unreasonable risk of injury. But no scholastic activity could ever replace what they learn about hard work, perseverance, teamwork and courage from playing America's greatest game.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: football; georgewill; lamestreammedia; mortalityrates
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1 posted on 08/08/2012 4:58:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

George Will proving once again that he’s a RINO wimp—As if further evidence was needed.


2 posted on 08/08/2012 5:03:29 AM PDT by Arm_Bears (Re-distribute my work ethic, not my wealth.)
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To: Kaslin

another example of the MSMs (female part)ification of America. as prescribed by the _resident, Dhmmicrats, and RINOs in general...and that means YOU TOO Justice Roberts, and all the Beltway buttwipes and their (female part)whipping wives.


3 posted on 08/08/2012 5:08:12 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Kaslin

They are coming for your guns and football. It is all part of the plan to make you a sheeple.


4 posted on 08/08/2012 5:11:29 AM PDT by bmwcyle (Corollary - Electing the same person over and over and expecting a different outcome is insanity)
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To: Kaslin

99 Reasons Why Baseball is Better Than Football - Thomas Boswell

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/563814/posts


5 posted on 08/08/2012 5:14:54 AM PDT by GreenLanternCorps ("Barack Obama" is Swahili for "Jimmy Carter".)
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To: Arm_Bears

he’s partisan...a baseball fanatic.


6 posted on 08/08/2012 5:20:44 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
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To: Kaslin

My son plays college football (Division 1 school), he’s senior this year....

He’s had three concussions. Laughingly, the worst one occurred in the locker room when the guys were “horsing” around, tripped, hit his head, split his scalp wide open.....rushed to the emergency room....

I’ve seen the good, bad and other in football as he’s grown up....

George Will is correct from one standpoint, their bodies take tremendous abuse, but unlike his hypothesis, they heal....

All sports damage the body when performed at a high level of competition. Check out a runners knees, hips and ankles. Or look at a baseball pitchers shoulder....

George Will’s solution is to perhaps to have sanctioned NCAA pillow fighting competition....

What a wimp!


7 posted on 08/08/2012 5:22:34 AM PDT by nevergore ("It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.")
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To: Kaslin

It doesn’t take a medical genius to recognize that beating a body takes in pro football isn’t good. Now, if an adult is willing to do that to himself, that’s his business. I just hope there are more safety restrictions in highschool games.
One person here suggested the problem with all the injuries may be the amount of safety gear. It encourages players into using themselves as missiles.

Personally, I won’t watch. It’s too much of a blood sport for my tastes. Give me a baseball games or nascar. Now those are REAL all Amerixan sports.


8 posted on 08/08/2012 5:24:19 AM PDT by LevinFan
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To: nevergore

If anyone actually reads what Will wrote he is somewhere between advocating the end of football and simply, as I have been saying for some time, acknowledging that it will not survive societal changes as is.


9 posted on 08/08/2012 5:24:56 AM PDT by John W (Viva Cristo Rey!)
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To: John W

The NFL game has already changed for the worse. First we were reviewing plays to make sure “they got the calls right”. Now we review plays to second-guess the level of violence in a particular hit. If found to be excessive the player is punished. How can this be good for the game?

It’s gotten to the point where cornerbacks refuse to tackle and safeties are pulling up on hits. In the open field the game is turning into a form of the game that we used to refer to as “rough touch”. Boring! May as well watch Soccer.


10 posted on 08/08/2012 5:40:36 AM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
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To: Kaslin

George Will is a known fan of baseball and has written books on baseball, not just politics. This would be like the Chairman of GM writing about the problems at Ford.


11 posted on 08/08/2012 5:52:20 AM PDT by jps098
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To: John W
George Will hasn't been relevant for years....
12 posted on 08/08/2012 6:53:27 AM PDT by nevergore ("It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.")
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To: Tallguy

I don’t want any pro football player to have lasting injuries for my amusement.However,pro football is getting
so bad that the fans will simply stop watching.


13 posted on 08/08/2012 6:55:22 AM PDT by Dr. Ursus
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To: Dr. Ursus

TV eventually destroyed boxing. Now you have MMA and just look at how short the ‘careers’ are there. The NFL is committing suicide. So what will happen? Initially the college game will benefit. But if football goes away then some other game (Hockey?) will rise. Then again, Hockey is battling with how to deal with “concussion syndrome”, too.


14 posted on 08/08/2012 7:02:18 AM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
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To: Tallguy

I’d see some hockey hits on sports center and marvel that the player was killed or paralyzed.


15 posted on 08/08/2012 7:10:51 AM PDT by Dr. Ursus
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To: Kaslin

Retired players are still going to get a multi-billion dollar settlement.


16 posted on 08/08/2012 7:37:59 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: TurboZamboni

Baseball is a pastoral game; football is a game of industrial organization. Will longs for an America wherein the bowtie is again fashionable. It’s the equipment which causes the injuries; rugby and Aussie rules players don’t suffer the trauma.


17 posted on 08/08/2012 7:38:06 AM PDT by steve8714 (Romney will end up with someone even whiter and more boring than himself as VEEP.)
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To: TurboZamboni

Baseball is a pastoral game; football is a game of industrial organization. Will longs for an America wherein the bowtie is again fashionable. It’s the equipment which causes the injuries; rugby and Aussie rules players don’t suffer the trauma.


18 posted on 08/08/2012 7:38:13 AM PDT by steve8714 (Romney will end up with someone even whiter and more boring than himself as VEEP.)
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To: TurboZamboni

Baseball is a pastoral game; football is a game of industrial organization. Will longs for an America wherein the bowtie is again fashionable. It’s the equipment which causes the injuries; rugby and Aussie rules players don’t suffer the trauma.


19 posted on 08/08/2012 7:38:23 AM PDT by steve8714 (Romney will end up with someone even whiter and more boring than himself as VEEP.)
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To: steve8714
Will longs for an America wherein the bowtie is again fashionable.

LOL! Yeah, George Will as the latter-day Connie Mack. Wearing a suit & bow-tie while managing from the dug-out!

20 posted on 08/08/2012 8:17:26 AM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
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