According to study published Friday, May 24, 2019, NFL players may be more likely to die from brain diseases and heart problems than MLB players but the reasons are unclear. Also, girth can contribute to heart problems, and football players are generally bigger and heavier than baseball players. Brain diseases caused or contributed to 39 NFL deaths compared with 16 deaths among baseball players. That amounts to a nearly three times greater risk for NFL players, results that echo an earlier study comparing brain disease deaths in NFL players with the general population. Heart disease caused or contributed to 498 deaths among NFL players, more than double the 225 deaths among the baseball group.

Source: Washington Post May 24, 2019 15:45 UTC