Give Them Better Helmets, More Padding!

   Give them better football helmets -- and that should be just the starting point.

   The average life expectancy of an NFL football player? Somewhere between 53 and 59 years of age. One study covered in the magazine Science put it at 59.6 years. More interesting, it compared the life expectancy of NFL players with MLB players.

   The baseball players lived, on average, seven years longer.

    A short little story at conservapedia.com calls NFL players "victims." Kind of makes you wonder if their death certificates could list their cause of death as, "Victim of NFL football."

   "A selfish and morally bankrupt management of the NFL by billionaire owners who exploit players, cheerleaders, taxpayers, and fans results in a complete disregard for the long-term health of participants," says the article. "NFL owners do little to provide for their victims."

   In light of the NFL player (Damar Hamlin) who collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest after a hit, this is even more interesting: The Science article says by far the highest cause of death was heart disease. This might not seem surprising, since the highest cause of death for all adults in the U.S. is heart disease, but the study compared the death rate from heart disease for the NFL players with the death rate for MLB players.

   The rate for the NFL players was 2.4 times higher.

   For brain disease, it was three times higher. (Another study examined the brains of 111 NFL players -- 110 were found to have suffered chronic traumatic encephalophy (a bad brain condition) from repeated hits to the head. That's more than 99 percent.

   What are we thinking? What is the NFL thinking? Can we not see the hits inflicted on the football field demand our quick attention? Upgrade the football helmet. Increase the amount of padding over the rest of the body. As the saying goes, Don't just stand there; do something.