The NFL has been a two-fer these last two years, spreading brain injury among a small populace and infectious disease among its fans.  And just like the CTE and other injuries it causes, the pro owners won’t be culpable for disease spread in the stands.

The average life expectancy of NFL players is only 59.6 years according to an item on Science.org, but that is counting the deaths of all players.  I suspect the life expectancy of players by era to be longer for pre-1970 players (and inverse to their average body weight per era), shorter for those who came later.  I should track that sometime, the NFL prints an annual list of ex-players and coaches who have died.

The NFL’s list of deaths in 2021 is large, over 170.  The most telling part is ex-players who were born in 1962 or later and died during 2021, those less than average.  The players whose names are in bold either died from CTE, had CTE-related and post concussion issues, or mental health issues (which could be CTE related).  News articles are given for all but one death.

Noticeably, Philip Adams (who murdered six people) is not listed amongst the 2021 dead listed on the NFL’s page.  He died in April 2021, before many of those listed.  This is not an end of year omission, it looks intentional.

Name	Pos	Age	Cause of death
Philip Adams	DB	32	severe CTE (murdered six before suicide)
Tuineau Alipate	LB	54	no COD given
Otis Anderson	RB	23	gunshot (killed by his father)
Colt Brennan	QB	37	drug overdose (including fentanyl, a painkiller)
Greg Clark	TE	49	CTE
Chris Eitzmann	TE	44	no COD given (no news articles)
Josh Evans	DT	48	kidney cancer
Glenn Foster	DE	31	died in cop hands, mental health issues (bipolar)
Courtney Hall	C-G	52	no COD given
Parys Haralson	DE	37	no COD given
Geno Hayes	LB	33	liver disease, likely due to overuse of painkillers
Hessley Hempstead	G	49	no COD given, part of concussion lawsuit
Steve Hendrickson	LLB	54	no COD given, had many concussions
Gordon Hudson	TE	59	no COD given
Vincent Jackson	WR	38	stage 2 CTE
Darrius Johnson	DB	47	heart failure
Tony Jones	T-G	54	no COD given
Tim Lester	RB	52	COVID-19
Keith McCants	DE	53	CTE suspected
LaDarrell McNeil	FS	27	no COD given
Louis Nix	DT	29	cause unlisted, died three months after being shot
Freddie Joe Nunn	DE-LB	59	cause unlisted, was part of NFL concussion lawsuit
Craig Ogletree	LB	53	COVID-19 complications
David Patten	WR	47	motorcycle crash
Mark Pike	DE-LB	57	non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, COVID-19 complications, pneumonia
Chris Samuels	RB	52	self-inflicted gunshot wound, alleged to have CTE
Steve Smith	RB	57	ALS, part of NFL concussion lawsuit
Demaryius Thomas	WR	33	epileptic seizure
Lorenzo Washington	DE	34	carbon monoxide poisoning (accidental during Texas winter storm)

And, of course, football deaths aren’t limited to the NFL.  There are many ex-college and ex-high school players as well.  However, Tate Myre absolutely should not be counted among them; he was killed while trying to disarm a school shooter and protect other students.

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Dutch Fork High School is mourning the death of a recent football player, according to the team’s official Twitter account.

Elijah Chapman, a member of the Class of 2021, died, according to a tweet from the account.

Chapman is the third current or former Dutch Fork player to die in the past six months. Chapman was running back/linebacker on the Silver Foxes 2020 state championship team.

There are several more items linked below the fold.

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