Playing The Numbers

The New York Daily News analyzed a study by the National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injuries which examined 243 deaths of high school and college football players from July 1990 - June 2010. There were some interesting points raised.

The vast majority of the deaths were from high school players. This could be attributed to the big difference in the number of players compared to college.

A player was twice as likely to die from a heart issue, heat stroke or some other non-traumatic injury. Heart issues caused 100 deaths compared to 62 from brain injuries and 38 from the heat. Lightning strikes, broken necks, abdominal injuries and infections were also noted causes.

Many players who suffered from heart fatalities had pre-existing conditions that were only identified upon autopsy. There is a huge controversy about mandatory EKG's for all athletes. It would save a lot of lives, but would also be costly. It always boils down to money.

Apparently, a death rate of 1 for every 100,000 players is considered acceptable unless it's your kid or someone you know.