MUST READ: Death and distress haunt members of the 2001 title team

[Dingleberry]

The story is what it is. I do wonder how many players on other teams from 20+ years ago are also dead. Is this an abnormal number? Might be something a journalist would look into and add for context.

I also wonder if there is any coincidence that the Boston Globe dropped this article the same day the departure of Xander Bogaerts was announced. Deflect from the Red Sox bad press in free agency to say, look Patriots bad.

Probably not related, but those jizz stains at the Red Sox and Globe also get no benefit of doubt.

 

[Steve102]

The story is what it is. I do wonder how many players on other teams from 20+ years ago are also dead. Is this an abnormal number? Might be something a journalist would look into and add for context.

I also wonder if there is any coincidence that the Boston Globe dropped this article the same day the departure of Xander Bogaerts was announced. Deflect from the Red Sox bad press in free agency to say, look Patriots bad.

Probably not related, but those jizz stains at the Red Sox and Globe also get no benefit of doubt.

I certainly didn't take it as "look, Patriots bad", but you make a valid point. My opinion was more that life after football is tough for some. We've discussed in the Red Sox forum my distaste for the Henry owner group, so I will leave it over there.

 

[Rob0729]

The thing is NFL players in general seem to have shorter life spans than a lot of people. I read somewhere that the life expectancy of an average NFL player is in his mid to late -50s. It was a long time ago that I saw that (like maybe a decade). So that number may have changed. But compared to the general male population, NFL players have short lifespans.

 

[Tom Tupa]

I didn't realize Ted Johnson got into cocaine. I'd heard about the concussion stories but not the addiction part. Glad to see he has overcome that.

RIP to the fallen 2001 Patriots players. Sad for anyone to die so young, whether they were members of our favorite team or not. That is probably my favorite season ever so it's a bummer to see that a bunch of them are already gone and others have struggled after football.

 

[italian pat patriot]

"Nearly 16% of Nfl playiers file for bankruptcy within 12 years of their last game"...

Incredible...16% !

 

[RobertWeathers]

I didn't realize Ted Johnson got into cocaine. I'd heard about the concussion stories but not the addiction part. Glad to see he has overcome that.

RIP to the fallen 2001 Patriots players. Sad for anyone to die so young, whether they were members of our favorite team or not. That is probably my favorite season ever so it's a bummer to see that a bunch of them are already gone and others have struggled after football.

Plus you have Matt Stevens who lost the use of his legs due to a motorcycle accident.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The thing is NFL players in general seem to have shorter life spans than a lot of people. I read somewhere that the life expectancy of an average NFL player is in his mid to late -50s. It was a long time ago that I saw that (like maybe a decade). So that number may have changed. But compared to the general male population, NFL players have short lifespans.

It would be awful to see an aging Brady drop dead on the field after a Pick Six!

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

The thing is NFL players in general seem to have shorter life spans than a lot of people. I read somewhere that the life expectancy of an average NFL player is in his mid to late -50s. It was a long time ago that I saw that (like maybe a decade). So that number may have changed. But compared to the general male population, NFL players have short lifespans.

A 2019 Harvard study found 59.6 for ex-NFL players.

The death rate from heart disease was 2.4 times higher for NFL players than that of former MLB players; for brain disease, it was three times as high. All of the men tracked for the study played at least five seasons in NFL or MLB between 1959 and 1988.

The 517 former NFL players who died during that 35-year period did so at an average age of 59.6 years; the baseball players at 66.7 years. By far the largest cause of death for the football players was heart disease: It was listed as a cause of death for 498 of the 517 NFL players surveyed. By contrast, brain disease contributed to just 39 of those deaths. Among the former MLB players, there were 431 deaths, with heart disease listed as a cause in 225 of them and neurodegenerative disease in 16.

Science | AAAS

www.science.org

 

[SlowGettingUp]

Not far. That’s why there is so much anger in the grassroots.

difference is NFL players once were doing well, then fell. Most folks were never doing that well.

There is a huge difference in life expectancy between the general population and NFL players.

From the article:

A 2019 study of NFL players from 1979 to 2013 found their average life expectancy was 59.6 years.

By contrast the life expectancy of a 20-year-old male is to live to around 77 - nearly 20 years longer. Black males overall have a shorter life expectancy though, but that likely accounts for maybe 4 years of the 20 year difference.

 

[Hyped]

Comments:

1.) Thanks for sharing @Ian.

2.) I can get around the paywall. PM me for details.

3.) Had no idea about Leonard Myers....I had been *****ing about him letting that Chad Pennington pass sail through his hands in 2002....an interception there...we make the post-season.

4.) Kenyatta Jones....I forgot about him since the boiling water indicent.

5.) It kills me to read about J.R. Redmond....that guy gave me a lot of joy...he was amazing at Arizona State...

6.) Wiggins man.....

7.) Ted Johnson...one of the few Patriots I have met. Nice guy.

8.) The '01 team will always always be my favorite football team...that season was amazing...we just kept stringing together wins-by-wins and ended up the season on a 9 game winning streak... the snow game featuring the single greatest figgie in history...the blocked figgie returned for TD by Mitchell/Brown/Harris....and the Vinatieri kick to cap it all off... I still have to pinch myself to remind that it was not a dream.....

 

[BTTA]

Too many parents expect the schools to teach their kids everything. There just aren’t enough hours in the school day for that. Financial literacy needs to be taught from a young age by the parents in order for kids to the best chance when they grow up. If you’re good with money, you should not need a credit card, for example. Credit card companies do a good job of convincing people they need their products for a “rainy day.” But because so many people do not know how to budget, the interest rates and payments on those cards make it impossible for most Americans to stockpile a rainy day fund.

In about a year or so, I’m going to begin incentivizing my oldest daughter to do “chores,” like pick up her toys and put them away when she is done with them. She will get coins (which will eventually turn into dollars as the chores get more challenging) to put into a piggy bank. Every once in a while, we will empty that piggy bank and take her to the store to buy something so she can learn the value of money.

Credit cards are an essential part of the financial infrastructure of the economy. The problem is that people use them as borrowing instruments, rather than simple payment tools.

 

[BTTA]

Too many parents expect the schools to teach their kids everything.

I wonder what the financial literacy rate is among the parents. I suspect that gap is what pulls the schools to add this into the curriculum. They see kids without any other support system. Not arguing with you, just speculating on how it unfolds.

Another side of this problem is that the governing class in the country has no idea what a budget looks like for someone making a low hourly wage. It's been that way for a long time. My son did a budgeting exercise in 8th grade for someone making minimum wage, having to learn about taxes, rent, insurances, etc. The kids couldn't make it work out, in a small town in NH, for someone making minimum wage. The options were group housing (considered dangerous for women), chronic debt, or homelessness. A group of parents got outraged that the school was teaching this falsehood about 'Merica. The math didn't lie. The parents couldn't handle the truth, including the truth of their own privilege.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Unfortunately I can't read it. I would like to know if there is any mention on painkillers, opiates. That's a pandemic across America

I was just listening to Calvin Johnson talk about all the stuff he used to take just to function, nvm play. Just unbelievable example of where our heads at with these issues.

We're still testing for pot while handing out Vic's, OC's, Fentanyl and other dope. That does far more harm than good if abused even a little.

I can only imagine the access the money these guys have gets them. That's what's scary to me. If you grew up in Boston or East Coast in the last 30 years you're very familiar with the opiate game. What kind is popular. What kind is fake. Who has them. Where they come from. Regular drug dealers will have doctors in big hospitals or clinics in their pocket. Writing script after script until their license gets flagged. I can't imagine the access and doors that money opens up.

 

[Kontradiction]

Credit cards are an essential part of the financial infrastructure of the economy. The problem is that people use them as borrowing instruments, rather than simple payment tools.

And credit card companies cater to that mindset.

 

[Patjew]

Highway crashes: Terry Glenn and David Patten
Cancer: TJ Turner and Leonard Myers
Heart attack: Kenyatta Jones
Died suddenly riding a bike in August: Riddick Parker
Unknown causes this year: Charles Johnson

I'm ashamed to say I forgot about David Patten passing away. He was great.

 

[Patjew]

And credit card companies cater to that mindset.

I use them because I am too lazy to go to the ATM, and for the points. And for ease of traveling overseas. But I end up with $0 balances every month because they are all set to automatically be fully paid off monthly.

I had one in college and that was a disaster.

 

[Kontradiction]

I use them because I am too lazy to go to the ATM, and for the points. And for ease of traveling overseas. But I end up with $0 balances every month because they are all set to automatically be fully paid off monthly.

I had one in college and that was a disaster.

Yeah, you’re smart with them. Many are not. I had an AmEx card for airline miles a few years back and did the same thing. Then I just couldn’t justify paying the interest and stopped using it. Still kept it open while I used the miles I had accumulated, though.

 

[denverpatsfan]

I've had enough of Ted Johnson.

 

[NormZauchin]

I wonder what the financial literacy rate is among the parents. I suspect that gap is what pulls the schools to add this into the curriculum. They see kids without any other support system. Not arguing with you, just speculating on how it unfolds.

Another side of this problem is that the governing class in the country has no idea what a budget looks like for someone making a low hourly wage. It's been that way for a long time. My son did a budgeting exercise in 8th grade for someone making minimum wage, having to learn about taxes, rent, insurances, etc. The kids couldn't make it work out, in a small town in NH, for someone making minimum wage. The options were group housing (considered dangerous for women), chronic debt, or homelessness. A group of parents got outraged that the school was teaching this falsehood about 'Merica. The math didn't lie. The parents couldn't handle the truth, including the truth of their own privilege.

Why do you use the term "privilege?' Might some of the parents just be working class folks who, while making more than the minimum wage, lead modest lives?

 

[signbabybrady]

I'm ashamed to say I forgot about David Patten passing away. He was great.

They'll never cut David Patten