​A new study from Mass General Brigham, Boston University, and the Concussion & CTE Foundation finds that NFL players face a significantly higher risk of dying from neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, or dementia compared with the general population. Specifically, former players are nearly four times more likely to die from these conditions. The research, published in eClinicalMedicine on July 8, analyzed health data from 19,824 players who appeared in at least one professional football game between 1960 and 2019. While the overall cohort showed a lower mortality rate from all causes than the general population, the neurodegenerative mortality picture was starkly different. Dementia risk was about 3.8 times higher, and Parkinson’s disease risk was about 3.88 times higher among NFL players, indicating a substantial elevated threat for these conditions in this group.
In discussing the magnitudes, study co-senior author Jesse Mez, MD, MS, Associate Director of the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Co-Director of Clinical Research at the BU CTE Center, described the fourfold increase in dementia as immense and tied to environmental factors. He noted that brain bank studies point to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) as the principal explanation for this surge in dementia among players. To contextualize the finding, Mez compared the dementia risk associated with NFL play to heavy lead exposure—a historical environmental hazard that was banned from paint and gasoline due to its neurological and cardiovascular effects. Lead exposure is associated with a 2-to-3 times greater risk of dementia and a 1.5 times greater risk of cardiovascular death, illustrating just how substantial the NFL-related risk appears in comparison.
The study also found that players with longer professional careers—defined as five seasons or more—had about double the risk of dying from neurodegenerative causes compared with players who spent four seasons or fewer in the league. Another intriguing element of the analysis is the researchers’ discussion of a survivorship concept they label “Selection Through Athletic Resilience Survivor” (STARS). This idea suggests that the very traits and advantages that help someone attain and endure a career as a professional athlete—genetic factors, environment, medical care, and personal behaviors—contribute to longer overall survival. Yet within that longer lifespan, the burden of neurodegenerative disease may be disproportionately high, which the authors argue could mean the fourfold increase in neurodegenerative disease observed among NFL players may actually understate the true association between NFL play and these conditions. If the relationship were weaker than it appears, one might expect NFL players to have lower rates of brain disease given their lower incidences of cancer and cardiovascular disease, but the data show a different pattern for neurodegenerative outcomes.
This topic has broader implications for player health, risk awareness, and the ongoing discussions about long-term care and monitoring for athletes who have spent their careers in high-impact contact sports. The findings underscore the importance of continued research into the mechanisms linking repeated head trauma and neurodegenerative processes, as well as the development of preventive measures, early detection strategies, and supportive resources for former players navigating aging and brain health. The article originally appeared with a focus on how these results fit into the ongoing conversation about NFL safety and long-term well-being, and it has been shared through outlets highlighting the study’s contribution to understanding neurodegenerative risk in football players.