Black Gold

2019 ◽  
pp. 147-164
Author(s):  
Derrick E. White
Keyword(s):  
American Football ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football

This chapter chronicles the war between the American Football League (AFL) and the NFL and the new opportunities created for HBCU football players. FAMU’s Bob Hayes, who won two gold medals in the 1964 Olympics, was a chief beneficiary. Hayes signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 1965, and quickly became one of the best rookies in professional football.

scholarly journals Defining Exposures in Professional Football: Professional American-Style Football Players as an Occupational Cohort

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 232596711982921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel G. Grashow ◽  
Andrea L. Roberts ◽  
Ross Zafonte ◽  
Alvaro Pascual-Leone ◽  
Herman Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
American Football ◽  
Epidemiological Methods ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Head Impacts ◽  
Adverse Health Outcomes ◽  
Acute Injuries ◽  
Full Complement ◽  
Occupational Cohort

Studies of professional American football players have shown that football-related activities lead to acute injuries and may have long-term adverse health outcomes including osteoarthritis, neurocognitive impairment, and cardiovascular disease. However, the full complement of what constitutes professional football exposure has yet to be effectively articulated. Most likely, professional football exposure encompasses a multifaceted array of experiences including head impacts and joint stresses, long-term pain medication use, dietary restrictions, and strenuous training regimens. To study the health of professional American football players, characterizing the group as an occupational cohort and taking advantage of methods established within the discipline of occupational epidemiology may be beneficial. We conducted a narrative review of existing football research, occupational epidemiological methods papers, and occupational medicine studies. Here we describe the traditional occupational epidemiological approach to assessing exposure in a novel cohort and show how this framework could be implemented in studies of professional football players. In addition, we identify the specific challenges associated with studying an elite athletic occupational group, including the healthy worker effect and other types of selection and information biases, and explore these in the context of existing studies of football-related health. The application of well-established occupational epidemiological methods to professional football players may yield new insights into the effects of playing exposure and may provide opportunities for interventions to reduce harm.

scholarly journals Effect of Concussions on National Football League Quarterback Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Heintz ◽  
Emily F. Foret ◽  
Jeremy J. Foreman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
National Football League ◽  
Field Performance ◽  
American Football ◽  
Return To Play ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Career Outcomes ◽  
Neurocognitive Performance ◽  
Player Performance

Background: Sports-related concussion (SRC) rates are higher in American football than any other sport; therefore, the effects of SRCs on professional football players is a prevalent topic. Previous research has shown that sustaining an SRC has negative financial and overall career outcomes for athletes and may cause performance decrements after an athlete returns to play, however, the results of previous research regarding athlete performance after returning from an SRC are mixed. While some studies found that player performance in the National Football League (NFL) was unaffected upon returning from an SRC, evidence also suggests significant scoring reductions in offensive players. Although previous research has found that NFL running backs and wide receivers perform at levels similar to their performance before sustaining an SRC, little is known about quarterback performance after an SRC. There is also evidence that SRCs decrease neurocognitive performance, a quality that is crucial, especially for quarterbacks. Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine changes in NFL quarterback performances upon return to play from an SRC. Method: Quarterback ratings (QBRs) and concussion data from 2012-2015 were used to determine if changes occurred in NFL quarterback performance following an SRC. Results: QBRs decreased by 13.3 points (p = 0.014) after quarterbacks return from an SRC. Conclusions: Changes in on-field performance for NFL quarterbacks after sustaining an SRC could be the result of neurocognitive decrements that impact quick reaction and decision-making skills, which may have greater impacts on quarterbacks than other positions.

scholarly journals Exposure to American Football and Neuropsychiatric Health in Former National Football League Players: Findings From the Football Players Health Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 2871-2880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea L. Roberts ◽  
Alvaro Pascual-Leone ◽  
Frank E. Speizer ◽  
Ross D. Zafonte ◽  
Aaron L. Baggish ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Self Report ◽  
American Football ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Poor Cognition

Background: Former American football players have a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment than that of the US general population. It remains unknown what aspects of playing football are associated with neuropsychiatric outcomes. Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that seasons of professional football, playing position, and experience of concussions were associated with cognition-related quality of life (QOL) and indicators of depression and anxiety. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: The authors examined whether seasons of professional football, playing position, and experience of concussions, as measured by self-report of 10 symptoms, were associated with cognition-related QOL and indicators of depression and anxiety in a cross-sectional survey conducted 2015 to 2017. Cognition-related QOL was measured by the short form of the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders: Applied Cognition–General Concerns. The Patient Health Questionnaire–4 measured depression and anxiety symptoms. Of 13,720 eligible men with apparently valid contact information, 3506 players returned a questionnaire at the time of this analysis (response rate = 25.6%). Results: Seasons of professional play (risk ratio [RR] per 5 seasons = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.06-1.34) and playing position were associated with cognition-related QOL. Each 5 seasons of play was associated with 9% increased risk of indicators of depression at borderline statistical significance ( P = .05). When compared with former kickers, punters, and quarterbacks, men who played any other position had a higher risk of poor cognition-related QOL, depression, and anxiety. Concussion symptoms were strongly associated with poor cognition-related QOL (highest concussion quartile, RR = 22.3, P < .001), depression (highest quartile, RR = 6.0, P < .0001), and anxiety (highest quartile, RR = 6.4, P < .0001), even 20 years after last professional play. Conclusion: The data suggest that seasons of play and playing position in the NFL are associated with lasting neuropsychiatric health deficits. Additionally, poor cognition-related QOL, depression, and anxiety appear to be associated with concussion in the long term.

The Health Status of Retired American Football Players

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1674-1679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Nicholas ◽  
James A. Nicholas ◽  
Calvin Nicholas ◽  
Jennifer R. Diecchio ◽  
Malachy P. McHugh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Back Pain ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
American Football ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Population Norms ◽  
Sf 36

Background Despite a perception that retired professional football players have poor health, there are little supporting data. Hypothesis Retired football players have poor health compared with age-matched population norms. Study Design Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 4. Methods Thirty-six of 41 members of the 1969 Super Bowl winning team were contacted 35 years after that event (3 were deceased, and no contact information was available for 2). Players completed an SF-36 health survey and a medical history and football-specific questionnaire. Each player's football-related injury history before 1969 was documented from medical records. It was estimated that there was 80% power to detect a 10% difference in physical and mental health scores between the retired football players (age, 62 ± 3 y) and population norms (n = 741) at an alpha level of 0.05. Results SF-36 scores for physical and mental health were not different from age-matched norms (physical health P = .69; mental health P = .49). The most prevalent medical conditions were arthritis (24 of 36 players), hypertension (13 of 36 players), and chronic low back pain (13 of 36 players). SF-36 physical health scores were 21% lower in players with arthritis (P < .01) and back pain (P < .05) compared with the other players. Physical health scores were 19% above normal for players without arthritis (P < .01) and not different from normal for players with arthritis (6% lower; P = .6). Four of 8 players who had major ligamentous injuries to the knee before 1969 had total knee arthroplasty in the intervening years, compared with 3 of the remaining 28 players (P < .05). The men played professional football for 8.3 ± 3.8 years, and 33 players (94%) reported having had “very fulfilling” (n = 24) or “somewhat fulfilling” (n = 9) careers. Conclusion These professional football players had long and fulfilling careers with no apparent long-term detrimental effects on physical or mental health scores despite a high prevalence of arthritis.

Racial and Athletic Identity of African American Football Players

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse A. Steinfeldt ◽  
Courtney Reed ◽  
Clint M. Steinfeldt
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Athletic Identity ◽  
American Football ◽  
Football Players

Post-match recovery of eccentric knee flexor strength in male professional football players

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 140-146
Author(s):  
César Augusto Bueno ◽  
João Breno de Araujo Ribeiro-Alvares ◽  
Gabriel dos Santos Oliveira ◽  
Rafael Grazioli ◽  
Filipe Veeck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Knee Flexor ◽  
Flexor Strength

Lunate and Perilunate Dislocations in Professional Football Players

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 841-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Raab ◽  
David A. Fischer ◽  
Donald C. Quick
Keyword(s):  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football

scholarly journals Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Prevention Exercises: Could a Neuromuscular Warm-Up Improve Muscle Pre-Activation before a Soccer Game? A Proof-of-Principle Study on Professional Football Players

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4958
Author(s):  
Alessandro de Sire ◽  
Andrea Demeco ◽  
Nicola Marotta ◽  
Lucrezia Moggio ◽  
Arrigo Palumbo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Cruciate Ligament ◽  
Acl Injury ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Activation Time ◽  
Exercise Protocol ◽  
Warm Up ◽  
Anterior Cruciate ◽  
Proof Of Principle

Neuromuscular warm-up has been shown to decrease the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury improving muscular firing patterns. All preventive training programs described in the literature have a duration of several weeks. To date, no studies have explored the immediate effect of a neuromuscular warm-up exercise on pre-activation time of the knee stabilizer muscles. Thus, this proof-of-principle study aimed at evaluating the acute effects of a neuromuscular warm-up exercises on the electromyographic activation of knee stabilizer muscles’ activation pattern. We included 11 professional football players, mean aged 23.2 ± 4.5 years, from a Southern Italy football team. All of them underwent a standard warm-up exercise protocol at the first day of the evaluation. At 1 week, they underwent a structured neuromuscular warm-up exercise protocol. We assessed as outcome measure the pre-activation time (ms) of rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis (VM), biceps femoris (BF), and medial hamstrings (MH) upon landing. Outcomes were assessed before and after the standard warm-up and neuromuscular warm-up. Pre-activation time of RF, VM, BF and MH significantly improved only after neuromuscular warm-up (p < 0.05); moreover, there was a significant (p < 0.05) between-group difference in pre-activation time of all muscles after the neuromuscular warm-up compared with the standard warm-up. These findings suggested that physical exercise consisting of a structured injury prevention neuromuscular warm-up might have an immediate effect in improving the activation time of the knee stabilizer muscles, thus potentially reducing the risk of ACL injury.

Physical and performance characteristics related to starter status, position, and division in Japanese collegiate American-football players

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Junta Iguchi ◽  
Minoru Matsunami ◽  
Tatsuya Hojo ◽  
Yoshihiko Fujisawa ◽  
Kenji Kuzuhara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Test ◽  
Vertical Jump ◽  
American Football ◽  
Football Players ◽  
Jump Height ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Repetition Maximum ◽  
Vertical Jump Height ◽  
Division 1 ◽  
And Performance

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the variations in body composition and performance in Japanese collegiate American-football players. OBJECTIVE: To clarify what characterizes competitors at the highest levels – in the top division or on the starting lineup – we compared players’ body compositions and performance test results. METHODS: This study included 172 players. Each player’s body composition and performance (one-repetition maximum bench press, one-repetition maximum back squat, and vertical jump height) were measured; power was estimated from vertical jump height and body weight. Players were compared according to status (starter vs. non-starter), position (skill vs. linemen), and division (1 vs. 2). Regression analysis was performed to determine characteristics for being a starter. RESULTS: Players in higher divisions and who were starters were stronger and had more power, greater body size, and better performance test results. Players in skill positions were relatively stronger than those in linemen positions. Vertical jump height was a significant predictor of being a starter in Division 1. CONCLUSION: Power and vertical jump may be a deciding factor for playing as a starter or in a higher division.

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