An SNL death I didn't expect .. Jan Hooks

sfidc3 said

Then you haven't checked very well, life expectancy for NFL players is 59.6 (and it very much varies by position), compared to all US men at 77. So nearly 20 years shorter life.....there is absolutely no mystery why.....

Click to expand...

I've been googling and that numbers like that seems to come up quite a bit. But I don't know where they are getting that number. Its possible are only including players of the younger generation (lets say the ones who played in the 80s/90s) who have already died. But this is a very flawed methodology because it doesnt' include the players who HAVEN'T died yet.

I really wish I had access to raw data but its hard to come by. But we can maybe get a good idea by looking at a small sample size. Here's the 1957 Cleveland Browns roster (don't know why I picked that, maybe because it was Jim Browns rookie year)all of whom are now dead, and their age when they died, rounded to the nearest year. According to pro-football-reference.com

Joe Amstutz 86
John Borton 69
Pete Brewster 89
Jim Brown 87
Milt Campbell 79
Lew Carpenter 79
Preston Carpenter 77
Tom Catlin 77
Frank Clarke 85
Don Colo 95
Galen Fiss 75
Len Ford 46
Herschel Forester 88
Bobby Freeman 71
Bob Gain 87
Lou Groza 77
Chet Hanulak 89
Art Hunter 77
Henry Jordan 42
Ken Konz 79
Warren Lahr 45
Mike McCormack 83
Walt Michaels 90
Ed Modzelewski 86
Chuck Noll 82
Tommy O'Connell 83
Don Paul 75
Milt Plum 90
Bill Quinlan 83
Ray Renfro 68
Billy Reynolds 71
Fred Robinson 94
Stan Sheriff 61
Jim Ray Smith 93
Paul Wiggin 90
Junior Wren 74

The mean is 78.4, which is actually higher than the US average (for males) of 77.4