NFL Management Council Study Average NFL Career 7 years

[MoLewisrocks]

I recall the NFL making this claim during the lockout and it falling on deaf ears because the NFLPA kept touting 3 years (because their analysis included guys teams sign who never make the roster...). The NFL is now releasing a study conducted over the last several years that backs up the NFL's claim. I recall the study also showed that first rounders averaged 9 years and players who made the pro bowl averaged 13.

gregaiello Greg Aiello
NFL avg career length is 7 yrs. Repeat: 7 yrs. RT @realfreemancbs: NFL's new info on avg career length. I have it here: The Daily Shoutout: New info on NFL career length - CBSSports.com
15 minutes ago »

Of course, that has little effect on players ending up like this...

ProFootballTalk ProFootballTalk
Chris McAlister broke, unemployed, living with parents, says he can't pay child support Chris McAlister broke, living with parents, can’t pay child support | ProFootballTalk
26 minutes ago

McAlister retired two years ago after reportedly making in excess of $40M in his career...

 

[Clonamery]

McAlister retired two years ago after reportedly making in excess of $40M in his career...

I don't have it.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.


Numbers put together by the owners are going to exclude certain players, and emphasis is placed on the career length of first round draft picks and pro bowlers.

Numbers put together by the players include anybody that ever signed a contract.

There should be no surprise the two sets of figures are far off. Even the word "average" can result in two vastly different numbers; is it the mean or the median? Or does each side simply pick the one that better supports their claim?


Perhaps an independent analysis would be a better indicator; one that includes both mean and median for (a) any player that was at least on a team's practice squad; (b) any player that was ever on a 53-man roster; (c) any player that was ever on a game-day roster; (d) any player on a 53-man roster for at least 16 games.


I think it is naive to fully believe that either one of those numbers is 100% accurate and representative while the other one is not.

 

[Tunescribe]

Anyone know how many years a player needs to qualify for NFL pension? I thought it was five years but am not sure.

 

[xmarkd400x]

I think there are a lot of ways to slice and dice the data. I think you have to take quite the optimistic slice of data to hit the 7 year average, however.

I'd be curious to see the average career length broken out by draft round.

EDIT: And about Chris McAlister - That's really terrible. However, I don't feel that he is owed anything by anybody at this point. He won his lottery and blew the money. I'd have to work for more than 10 lifetimes to make that much money.