View Poll Results: If you have the ability, would you want to be a professional football player?

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  • Yes. $3,000,000 a year is too attractive.

    6 60.00%
  • No. Life is precious.

    3 30.00%
  • Others....

    1 10.00%
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Thread: If you have the ability, would you want to be a professional football player?

  1. #1
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    Default If you have the ability, would you want to be a professional football player?

    You will make few million dollars (let say US$3 million a year) a year but you will pay a heavy price in return. I just watched a documentary, it stated that the life expectancy of an average football player is like 55 (at least 20 years less than average population). I surf the web and all the websites say pretty much the same and most of the players have lot of problems after retired.

    The the question is, given what you know and if you have the ability to become one, would you go for it? If you are not going for it, then let assume it's not the end of the world. You still have a stable job that you can earn US$30,000-US$50,000 a year and live a normal life. I personally wouldn't go for it given what I know of the consequences. Money is very important to me, but life is more precious.

    *Note: I thought they were lucky that they can become a football player with lot of fans and making millions a year. I didn't know that they have the heavy price to pay.
    Last edited by Trien Chieu; 11-05-09 at 10:27 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Yeung Gor's Avatar
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    double post.
    Last edited by Yeung Gor; 05-24-09 at 09:02 PM.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Yeung Gor's Avatar
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    I don't want a long life so seems like a win win situation there for me. Making millions playing sport is a fun. I'll play for a several years then retire and just enjoy the rest of my life. Long life does not equate to happier life, the quality of your life is more important than the actual length of it.

  4. #4
    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Not *football*, because among the major team sports, this and hockey are the two sports where players are most susceptible to catastrophic injuries.

  5. #5
    Senior Member xJadedx's Avatar
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    Do I want to be a fat guy running around in tights? No.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member KeongJai's Avatar
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    if by football you mean football and not gridiron then yes.

    but hypothetically speaking, if i had the ability for gridiron and I loved the game then I would. But I don't have the ability and I don't like the game.

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    he probably means american football. But let's put it like this, the majority of pro sport players do not live long, my theory is that because they push their body beyond the limit way too much (through training), the cell in the body only has a finite amount of cycles that it can regenerate, so they end up short by speeding up the process (that's just my theory, i think it's 99.9% bullshit).

    anyways, i like playing sport but i rather not turn pro, too risky for your life and it's not an easy life.

  8. #8
    Senior Member KeongJai's Avatar
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    I think it's more to do with the diet and drinking/drug culture than anything.

    I'm guessing in gridiron they need to pack on pounds like sumos so they just eat meat for the bulk of their intake and then after games they pissup.

  9. #9
    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by warlock110 View Post
    he probably means american football. But let's put it like this, the majority of pro sport players do not live long.
    I wouldn't say that. Basketball legend George Mikan lived into his eighties, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still very healthy and active approaching his seventies, as is Jerry West and whole host of professional athletes.

  10. #10
    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    Not *football*, because among the major team sports, this and hockey are the two sports where players are most susceptible to catastrophic injuries.
    agreed.
    scary sometimes.
    besides, this is also not something you can do once you're over.. 35 if lucky. why not choose something that you can do even when you're 45+? golf anyone? boring, but if you're tiger woods and still playing for another 15+ years..
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by warlock110 View Post
    he probably means american football. But let's put it like this, the majority of pro sport players do not live long, my theory is that because they push their body beyond the limit way too much (through training), the cell in the body only has a finite amount of cycles that it can regenerate, so they end up short by speeding up the process (that's just my theory, i think it's 99.9% bullshit).

    anyways, i like playing sport but i rather not turn pro, too risky for your life and it's not an easy life.
    Yes, american & canadian football, otherwise I would have called soccer. I agree with you that the reason they do not live long is because they put themself beyond the limit through training and I believe they are using illegal substances as for the reason they are much more muscular than normal people. In addition, they get lot of injuries when they play the game. I don't know whether your cell theory is true or not as I don't know much about biology.

    If you look at your body and compare it to the professional athletes, it's like two different animals. I don't believe they can get that muscular without illegal substances. There is a huge price for them to pay later on for getting the perfect body image that beyond that you can't get without illegal substance.

    As for life, I prefer easy and relaxing life. I don't like to work 12-14 hours a day, driving luxury car, and then spend money like crazy on the weekend. I rather work 8 hour a day, driving a low end but decent car and then stay home on the weekend.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Batman View Post
    I wouldn't say that. Basketball legend George Mikan lived into his eighties, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still very healthy and active approaching his seventies, as is Jerry West and whole host of professional athletes.
    Basketball players don't get nearly as much injuries compare to football players.

  13. #13
    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trien Chieu View Post
    Basketball players don't get nearly as much injuries compare to football players.
    This is true, and rarely is a basketball injury life-threatening.

    But I thought the preceding comment applied to players of all the various team sports. I don't know of any famous living football players in their seventies and eighties, but most of my football heroes from the 1970s and 1980s (i.e. Joe Montana, Jim Plunkett, Tony Dorsett, Mean Joe Greene, Vince Ferragamo, Eric Dickerson, etc.) are still alive (granted, these men are only in their forties or fifties and a few might be in their sixties).

  14. #14
    Senior Member kay &!*'s Avatar
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    lol what the ****?
    all this time i thought we were on the same page..
    the reason why football players' life span is so short is not because of "excesssive training". that could play a small part, but the big issue are the injuries and body impact they experience through each game
    i don't even watch football//knows nothing about it but even a person with a peanut for a brain can see it.
    even though they are wearing helmets and such, you really think it fully protects them when another 200 lbs dude is running into them? it's like a car accident. the seatbelt and airbag can "protect" you but doesn't mean you'll be injured-free. try having the same impact experience 10 20 50 times in one game.. for how many games you play obvioulsy in the long run, it's going to backfire.
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  15. #15
    Senior Member Guo Xiang's Avatar
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    I was just wondering, but I voted for Association Football anyway.
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  16. #16
    Senior Member KeongJai's Avatar
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    i dont see how after a player retires, is football going to contribute to an early death other than the partying lifestyle being carried on after their careers are over. and/or still eating as much as they did while they were playing but not getting the same phsyical activity - i.e. becoming fatsos. everyone knows fatsos die young, athelete or not.

    sure they might have bunged shoulders and knees but how will that make them die at 55 instead of 80?
    Last edited by KeongJai; 05-25-09 at 03:22 AM.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by KeongJai View Post
    i dont see how after a player retires, is football going to contribute to an early death other than the partying lifestyle being carried on after their careers are over. and/or still eating as much as they did while they were playing but not getting the same phsyical activity - i.e. becoming fatsos. everyone knows fatsos die young, athelete or not.

    sure they might have bunged shoulders and knees but how will that make them die at 55 instead of 80?
    Yeah, exactly. Football has the highest risk of killing or crippling them when they're playing the sport, but as soon as they stop playing, they aren't threatened by the sport anymore. Whatever permanent damage they might suffer playing the sport will be instantly apparent; it's not something that will suddenly sneak up on them and kill them years after they retire.

  18. #18
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    It's to do with their body habitus. Out of the different positions, the linesman have the shortest lifespan. Reason? They are frikken huge. A person weighing 250 pounds cannot be expected to live as long as someone who is 150 pounds. They are at greater risk of diseases associated with obesity: coronary artery disease, strokes and cancer. While these are also the main killers of 'normal' people, it happens a number of years later as our risk factors are not as strong.

    In terms of the hit ups, the most life shortening cause would be the hits to the head. Otherwise chronic musculoskeletal injuries should only have a relatively small effect, maybe in terms of promoting a sedentary lifestyle and chronic drug side effects. People who have spinal cord injuries will have significantly shorter lifespans due to this injury as well.

    I also agree that some of the lifestyle factors associated with football is a significant contributer - booze, drugs, maybe use of steriods and diet.
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  19. #19
    Senior Member jiang bao's Avatar
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    Well, you live once, so you might as well enjoy it if you can. What good is it if you live until you're 90? Old age sucks. If you live a boring sleep inducing life and never experienced what it's like to be truly alive, and then spend the last 10 years of your life in a nursing home... well, that's a pretty crappy life.
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  20. #20
    Senior Member yittz's Avatar
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    Rather a comet than slow burning candle eh? Of course ideally being the sun would be best.
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