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The Need for More Mental Health Awareness in the NFL


The National Football League is one of the most powerful organizations in the sports realm, and yet, there has been limited progress made in the promotion of mental health. There have been many tragic stories that have been a result of a lack of mental health services, and there is clearly something that needs to be done.

 

With an increased focus on mental health in former professional football players, there comes a need for increased legislation in the area. Medical studies have shown that having a playing professional football is generally associated with increased mental health problems, with an additional risk to those who have suffered concussions at some point in their career. In a study of 2500 former NFL players, depression rates were as high as 11.1%.1 For the sake of comparison, the nationwide rate of depression in men 20-39 is 5.5%, dipping to 5.2% in men 40-59, and sharply rising to 6.1% for men above 60.1 This, along with the fact that both men and football players have a low rate of reporting mental health problems, creates a dangerous circumstance in which there is a lack of, and a clear need for, legislation regulating mental health in football.1

 

Given these startling statistics, the National Football League has not drastically updated their mental health promotion programs since 2019, with the release of the Behavior Health Agreement.2 Given that these mental health statistics are from 2020, there is still more work to be done. Football is an inherently violent sport, and therefore the players should be afforded the most protection possible, to both their physical and mental health.

 

Additionally, former NFL players are not awarded lifetime health insurance. In terms of neurological care, this is cared for by the NFL Player Care Foundation.3 However, players are responsible for most of the assessments, care, and travel unless they fit the requirements of a “vested player.” This only applies to players who have played at least three NFL games in three seasons.4 This needs to be expanded, as it only takes one game for a player to suffer a concussion and therefore have an expanded range of potential mental health problems. This is a major issue, given that mental health problems can lead to lifelong difficulties, and yet there is only a subsection of the former population of players that are able to benefit by the long-term healthcare plans of the league.


The NFL is one of the highest-profile businesses in the nation. Though it is still just that, a business, the long-term mental health of current and former players still needs to come first. The need for expanded healthcare plans for former players has never been greater, even with greater resources and science that has recently been developed in order to enhance player safety. The recent medical developments and enhancements to increase mental health awareness mean nothing for former players already impacted by the violent sport if there is nothing done to expand coverage. The statistics don’t lie and given that there is such a concern for mental health nowadays, there needs to be expanded action that matches that concern.

 

There’s no easy solution to this problem, as it would be costly, and an agreement would need to be made between both the NFL and the NFLPA. Though there was the agreement that was made in 2020, it still didn’t do nearly enough to improve help for former players.5 This agreement kept in place the subset of players that get healthcare benefits, and even though it was expanded to players with three credited NFL seasons, as noted before, it still does not cover all former NFL players, which is the goal for the future. Though it will take a lot of work, there is still reason for optimism.

 

Jonathan Trusz is a current student at the Quinnipiac University School of Law, and a graduate from the University of Connecticut. He can be reached on LinkedIn under his name, or by email at [email protected].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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