Keeping NFL Hearts Healthy

(CBS)  Players in the NFL today are heavier than ever before - hundreds weigh more than 300 pounds. Doctors warn those extra pounds carry a deadly risk once players hang up their shoulder pads, and as CBS News correspondent Russ Mitchell reports, some former players are on a mission to raise awareness about the problems.

More than two decades after he stopped playing hard nose football Harry Carson is working out harder than ever.

"Once I stopped playing I knew I had to continue to work out and take care of my body," Carson says.

As a nine-time Pro-Bowl linebacker and league Hall-of-Famer, Carson, who used to weigh around 230 pounds, helped the New York Giants win the Super Bowl in 1987.

Now at age 54, and tipping the scales at more than 260 pounds, he exercises daily to keep his heart healthy.

"Once you stop playing, that heart is well trained," Carson says. "And if you don't take care of that heart, its going to forsake you."

So Carson is on a campaign to make sure that other former gridiron greats do the same thing. And as players become heavier, alarm bells have been sounded.

Seventy-seven percent of retired football players younger than 50 who are obese have died of heart attacks, according to a Scripts Howard survey.

Retired linemen have an even higher risk, Mitchell reports. In the last 20 years the average lineman's weight has ballooned 37 pounds to 318 pounds today. In fact, more than half of current players, 56 percent, are clinically obese and many don't lose the extra weight once their playing days are over.

"A lot of guys don't change their eating habits, or get even heavier," Carson says. "So there is a problem that is there that must be addressed."

A string of sudden deaths from heart disease in young retirees like Mike Webster, Dwight White, Steve Furness, and Hall-of-Famer Reggie White has helped bring attention to the issue.

Former NFL Quarterback Archie Roberts - now a cardiologist - is doing his part. Roberts founded the Living Heart Foundation, which offers free heart screenings for retired players around the country - something Roberts wishes someone had done for him.

"I ignored my own health and one day I was talking in front of a large group of doctors and I had a stroke," Roberts says.

Dr. Roberts has screened 1,400 retirees and found that many of the players who are diagnosed with heart problems are unaware of the danger.

"They tend not to think about health and believe they are going to live forever," Roberts says.

The NFL is taking notice - even creating its own cardiovascular committee to educate players about healthy living before and after football.

"We cannot carry 250 or 300 pounds," says Dr. Robert Vogel, co-chair of the NFL cardiovascular subcommittee at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "We pay a price and most of the time the first symptom of heart disease is sudden death."
It's a price Carson says he's not willing to pay, and is hoping more former players follow his lead - before it's too late.

"Guys younger than me have serious problems," Carson says. "I'm starting to see my teammates die, I feel like I am their big brother and I feel like if something is going to happen, it should happen to me not them."

With Carson's help, the NFL and the Players Association have established an co-operative alliance to pay for additional heart screenings as well as joint-replacement and depression therapy.

[plainjean]

This weight issue is like the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War: Both attempted to get an edge on the other by developing weapons which were more destructive than the other. This analogy comparing nuclear weapons to excessive weight gains among NFL players is a good one. When I watch the NFL it is not weight that draws me to it; rather it is the style of play that is the big turn-on here. former Steeler''s great Lynn Swann and Colts super star John Unitas are good examples of players who were slim, but still performed on the field. Lineman like Allan Page, Verlin Biggs, Alex Karris and Merlin Olson also foot the bill for players who played within a certain weight classification but did not over do it. So why does the NFL play Russian roulette with the lives of its players by tolerating these excessive weight loads?

[easeup-2009]

I was an Ohio State Buckeye from ''''67 - ''''70 and a walk -on for the Cleve. Browns. I am now 59, 6'''' 4"/300# and have a healthier heart now than when I played. I eat as few carbs as possible. My doctor can''''t believe that I can continue without carbs but it''''s all about desire to be healthy and not putting things into my body that will harm you. Leave the pasta on the plate and live. I eat 4 eggs and 1/2 pound of bacon or sausage every morning and have for 20 yrs. I can''''t stand to be hungry. I''''ll compare my HDL''''s LDL''''s, pulse, heart rate and pressure with anyone in the country. Eat that glue from flour and/or carbs and die, Folks. It really is that easy. I don''''t have a book nor care to do anything but live a healthy simple life on my horse farm retired from the world.

Posted by WhatChange at 06:24 AM : Dec 08, 2008

How in the world did the ''69 team lose to Michigan!!?? Man I''d love to hear some Woody stories....

[helloall34]

"Seventy-seven percent of retired football players younger than 50 who are obese have died of heart attacks, according to a Scripts Howard survey. "
======================

That is a pretty scary statistic. As a weight lifter and I runner I often wonder if if the weight from muscle really decreases life expectancy (by increasing risk of heart attack). When one asks this question the quick answer is always no. However, I have never seen a long-term study that investigated this. It''s sort-of hard because it''s a fairly small group of people who maintain muscle (or even add it) as they age). In the NFL there are some very good players that are 5''9 ~210-225. They are very athletic (defensive backs/running backs). I have to wonder if they are mote prone to heart attack. I''d like to believe he answer is no, but my guess is that the answer is yes.

[honestabe8]

Is there some valid reason you had to bring politics into this? If the market no longer exists, then you should have no problem signing to one of those contracts they give to undeserving players

[honestabe8]

They are paid what the market allows.

[whatchange-2009]

I was an Ohio State Buckeye from ''67 - ''70 and a walk -on for the Cleve. Browns. I am now 59, 6'' 4"/300# and have a healthier heart now than when I played. I eat as few carbs as possible. My doctor can''t believe that I can continue without carbs but it''s all about desire to be healthy and not putting things into my body that will harm you. Leave the pasta on the plate and live. I eat 4 eggs and 1/2 pound of bacon or sausage every morning and have for 20 yrs. I can''t stand to be hungry. I''ll compare my HDL''s LDL''s, pulse, heart rate and pressure with anyone in the country. Eat that glue from flour and/or carbs and die, Folks. It really is that easy. I don''t have a book nor care to do anything but live a healthy simple life on my horse farm retired from the world.