Life after pro football: Playing with pain becomes living with pain, depression

Research indicates retired NFL players face depression at rates similar to the general public, but chronic pain compounds their symptoms.

By Stephanie Stapleton, AMNews staff. June 11, 2007.

Professional football players exude mystique.

As elite athletes, they are stronger or swifter than others. They make and break tackles, leap in the air to pull down impossible passes, and score thrilling touchdowns. They sign autographs. And once they leave the game, fans assume their celebrity continues and they reap the benefits of product endorsement contracts and broadcasting careers.

Certainly, they aren't depressed.

But a study published in the April Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, suggests that retired National Football League players experience depression at levels at least equal to that of the general public. The impact of these symptoms is compounded by high levels of chronic pain.

The study, which was supported in part by a grant from the NFL Players Assn., was designed to assess the experiences of respondents with a range of life problems following retirement. "It boils down to the concept that retired NFL players are people, too, " said Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, the study's lead author. "They spend their careers playing a brutal sport -- most people don't understand how brutal."

Researchers contacted 3,377 members of the NFLPA, Retired Players Section with a survey that included a structured depression screening tool -- the PHQ-9 questionnaire -- as well as questions about chronic pain and demographics. It also explored postretirement issues, such as employment, marital or financial problems, and the barriers to receiving help.