​A new study conducted by Mass General Brigham, Boston University, and the Concussion & CTE Foundation shows that NFL players face a substantially higher risk of death from neurodegenerative disease compared with the general population—nearly four times higher. Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School, and director of the HealthSpan Lab, described the finding as the clearest population-level evidence to date that NFL players succumb to neurodegenerative disease at significantly higher rates. He emphasized that when examining athletes who played in an NFL game—almost 20,000 players across all official causes of death—the pattern persists: dementia and Parkinson’s disease occur three to four times more often than would be expected.
The study uses a broad umbrella of neurodegenerative disease, encompassing conditions such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. Length of time spent in the NFL also emerged as a factor. Players with five or more seasons in the league showed nearly double the risk of neurodegenerative death compared with those who played for one to four years. Dr. Jesse Mez, associate director of the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and co-director of clinical research at the BU CTE Center, described the increase in dementia rates as a fourfold consequence potentially rooted in environmental factors within the sport. He noted that historical exposure to heavy lead—once used in paint and gasoline—was associated with 2-to-3 times greater dementia risk and a 1.5 times greater risk of cardiovascular death, highlighting just how substantial the observed dementia increase could be in the NFL context.
On the flip side, the study also notes a paradox: NFL players, on average, live longer than non-NFL players. The same set of attributes that help athletes reach professional levels—exceptional physical and cognitive performance, resilience, self-discipline, and lower incidences of smoking and serious early illnesses or injuries—also appear to contribute to longer overall survival. This suggests that the factors enabling a successful professional athletic career may simultaneously interact with longevity in complex ways, balancing extended life expectancy against a higher risk of neurodegenerative death.
Earlier research has also pointed to elevated risks among professional football players. A separate study of 19,423 players who appeared in NFL games from 1960 to 2019 found that the risk of developing ALS was four times higher than in the general population. The overarching message from these findings is clear: athletes enter sports knowing there is injury risk, yet the long-term neurological consequences require ongoing attention from players, medical professionals, leagues, and researchers alike.
The broader context extends beyond football. Many sports involve exposure to head trauma, including hockey, soccer, boxing, and other combat-related disciplines. While the current study focuses on the NFL, the principle—that repeated head impacts can have lasting neurological effects—has relevance across athletic disciplines. Regardless of the sport, the vast majority of individuals who possess the skill and drive to compete at the highest levels would still choose to play. They deserve to be informed about the long-term risks they are undertaking, alongside the immediacy of in-game injuries, so that decisions about participation and safety can be made with full awareness.