N/S: All Retirement Team

CountWhoDat said

Maybe recency bias affects my judgment here, but it seems that more guys are hanging up the cleats early in their careers since the long-term effects of playing football became widely acknowledged and accepted. This has to cause concern for the long-term survival of the sport.

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It's absolutely true that more players now are choosing retirement earlier these days and they are citing the desire to maintain their health as the primary motivation.

That said, I don't think it's (yet) cause for concern. It still isn't that common (most players retire after a typical career or because they aren't making rosters anymore . . . not because they leave the game for health reasons). And some guys going six seasons instead of nine or 10, with a steady supply of eager young players of high caliber isn't likely to really impact the viability of the league. I don't think that will really happen until top caliber players are regularly choosing other sports or simply to not play in the league. And as long as the league is making the money it is making to pay the player salaries it is paying, that isn't terribly likely over the short or even medium term IMO.