The ESPN/KFF Survey of 1988 NFL Players sought to ask retired professional football players about their total life outcomes. As part of the survey, respondents anonymously answered a handful of open-ended questions about their attitudes toward football. Here is a sampling of what they had to say.
Responses have been edited for length, punctuation and spelling.
Players who answered "yes" to the question about whether they'd make the same decision to play professional football again were asked to explain why:
"Greatest game in the world. High risk/high reward. Nothing will ever replace the camaraderie or the adrenaline to play against the best in the world."
"It's provided me with all I have in this world, and who I am as a man. It helped mold me and shape me physically, mentally, and spiritually. God put many amazing mentors, friends, and even some good coaches in my life through the NFL. ... Football, in both college and the NFL is not fun and games. It takes everything you have, every moment of every day, there's really no such thing as a day off. I would argue there's not another sport that requires so much of you, so much of the time. The relationships you form on all the teams are unmatched in any other realm of life."
"I made friendships with people from all walks of life that influenced my life in a positive way. I also was rewarded financially very well, and I've done well with that money. I also like the pride that it brought to my siblings and parents and people who knew me growing up."
"I am still very proud that I was one of a very select few to get to play in the NFL. An honor that I worked incredibly hard for."
"The NFL has opened so many doors for the success I have experienced as an adult. It has also empowered me to live a very successful and comfortable life both financially and socially. It has allowed me to educate my five children. Finally, it has given me a platform to speak and travel around the world."
"I believe some of my current health conditions are an accumulation of what happened to me during college and playing in the NFL. I also attribute some of the success I've had in life to my experiences, playing both college and professional football. The mentality that I have has been developed through many years of experiences in sports with coaches and teammates. It is hard to ask me to change my mindset after being conditioned to think a certain way about sports and football. Without those experiences, I would not be the person that I am."
"I believe that my wife is almost at her wits end with me because I am not the same person that she met over 30 years ago. Don't get me wrong, my life is not as bad as it could be and for that I'm grateful."
"I would play because I loved the game, [my] teammates and coaches. That being said, I just had my 15, 16, 17th operations in the last year. ... I have to battle for insurance assistance or pay on my own. All injuries caused by football."
"Although I have been diagnosed with early [Alzheimer's,] I would do it again."
"I would play safer and smarter. I was taught to use my head when tackle another. What we know now is that's not healthy."
"The money and fame are the plus. [That I] can't remember anything after 50 years old is very hurtful. I've lived in my home for 30+ years and every now and then, I'm lost."
"I encountered people from different ethnicities, religious beliefs, achievements and family units that gave me great perspectives on living. The pain I manage now [is] because of playing football so long. I would still have played because of the people, the culture that accepts you above your identity."
"I thank God for giving me the opportunity to step in between the white lines and act like an unmitigated savage, and then step outside those lines and love people, love God, respect people, and treat them better than myself."
Players who answered "no" or "not sure" to the question about whether they'd make the same decision to play professional football again were asked to explain why:
"My life is severely impacted. Having both hips replaced once ... five shoulder replacements. One knee replacement already and planning the other soon. ... All these issues have me not able to do any of the activities I grew up loving. I can't play catch with my grandson. I can't play the guitar or piano any more. Can't go hiking or work my dogs. Can't do a f---ing thing physically. Then there is the brain s---. ... Blew up 2 great relationships and have had issues with my kids as my temper and loss of memory hamper my ability to have a coherent conversation. My quality of life sucks just sitting here waiting to die."
"I am physically and mentally a mess. I should have stuck with baseball."
"In order to play football I had to put on 50 pounds, so I started over-eating. When I retired my caloric intake remained the same, but my activities all but stopped which caused weight gain, diabetes and high blood pressure."
"I feel as though I could have had a better life had I never played football."
Players who encouraged their children to play football were asked to explain why:
"My son wanted to play in high school, so I supported it just as my father supported me. I schooled him on the knee braces and all the other tools that I played with and hope he chose those as well...which he did. I care so much about safety."
"Because my son wanted to carry on our family tradition of playing in the NFL."
Players who discouraged their children from playing football, or said it depended on the child, were asked to explain why:
"Didn't want them ending up like me."
"If you value a clear mind as you age you can't do it. It will leave u empty. Giving new [meaning] to the adage, 'If you got your health, you got everything' -- me, I got nothing."
"I don't wish living like this on anybody especially my kids!!"
"It wasn't me, it was [my] wife. I guess she saw the shape that I was in, and she didn't want our son to be in the same shape."
"I have some negative residual physical, mental and emotional issues. It destroyed my marriage. I want them to do what makes them happy, but I'm afraid it will hurt them."
"My first-born son wanted to play football, and I was against it. But after he came to me and said, 'Dad, I want to play the game,' I decided to become a part of the coaching staff and support him. In youth league tackle football, you need someone with experience. .... I taught those kids, including my son, how to play the game the correct way. And still be tough on that field. It takes a certain mindset to play football."
Players were asked to provide descriptions of how pain has limited their life or work activities:
"I'm f---ed."
"I used to love going out with friends, and now I'm always in pain. Over the past several years I've not associated with any of my friends and family because I don't want them to see me like this. Mentally it's killing me. So what do I do? I have become a loner and not even realizing it. ... I've always been so happy and friendly with everyone that I've ever had the pleasure of interacting with, and I am not who I used to be."
"Full body destruction."
"Walking, climbing steps, going down steps, showering, dressing, putting on shoes, and lifting ......to name a few."
"I've gotten two hip replacements and are scheduled for two knee replacements. My back is constantly in pain. My headaches have gotten worse. Trying not to take narcotics at all but constant anti-inflammatories are damaging my liver. Constantly having trouble sleeping."
"I have ALS and I'm confined to a wheelchair."
"After 10 years of playing in the NFL, with two surgically repaired knees, back and neck injuries, concussions that I can't even count -- it has been very difficult to do normal activities now that I have become older, by the grace of God. Football has been a blessing to me, but it has also been a curse in the long run. Sometimes I wish that I never played this dear sport that I loved. The sport of football gave me so much, but it took even more from me. In ways you can't explain, unless you played yourself."
"My body hurts when I move. I sometimes get embarrassed when I walk because I limp and labor to walk."
"Always uncomfortable with back pain shoulder pain and can't lift arm."
"I've had a double lumbar surgery and spinal injuries that make it difficult to sleep at night. I'm not getting the quantity and quality of sleep resulting in sleep deprivation and psychosis. I wake up exhausted every day, and I'm in a mental fog with lack of clarity. I get headaches when I answer a lot of questions because I have to think and strain my brain. I have cervical neck pain that goes down my shoulder to my arm then to my fingers. The pain -- also known as the stinger -- feels like a hot iron. ... I've used alcohol and opioids for the pain to cool off. I've bought opioids not prescription that I had to get off the street because I was declined and denied. My lower back interferes to this day to put on my socks and shoes and put on my underwear, it is embarrassing, debilitating and depressing for a world champion. My ability to sit in front of a client is very difficult. I have a hard time concentrating on my customers, clients and prospects. I have to take notes when I'm with a new client, prospect or customer and feel uncomfortable on how I am or will be perceived."
"I have stressful thought-processing issues. I lose my concentration, I get panicky, and it makes it worse. It's hard for me to go anywhere because constantly the slightest thought can throw me into a panic and causes anxiety."