Launched in 2014, the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University is a comprehensive research program which examines the multifactorial causes that impact the health and wellbeing of former NFL players. Our interdisciplinary study has launched several research initiatives which examine the spectrum of health conditions and concerns identified by former NFL players as those that impact their short- and long-term health. Our research model is community-based, and participatory. Direct input by players and their families have guided the focus of our research since the genesis of our study, and continues through the second funding period, which commenced in July 2022.
From 2017 to 2022, our Study conducted in-person assessments of more than 100 players at Harvard-affiliated hospitals. For these studies, former players from around the country were flown in to undergo a battery of head-to-toe-assessments.
What differentiates us from other studies:
Many research programs focus exclusively on one health concern. We are studying players over the course of their lifetime, examining the spectrum of health and disease that impacts their physical and mental health to develop interventions to improve health and wellbeing. We are also studying the specific ways the game of football, including position played, impacts the health of players and their families, elucidating both the benefits and risks of the game.
Our investigators and researchers from Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and other universities dedicate their expertise in domains ranging for heart and brain health to sleep, chronic pain, and mobility – studying the mechanisms of intersection among the player population and how underlying conditions and co-morbidities intersect.
Our “pathway to longevity” research focuses on early aging, providing tips and guidance for former players to make positive changes in their lifestyle, along with information on how to discuss this burgeoning research with their healthcare providers. Health equity underlies all of our research, as we study the role of race as a social determinant of health among players.
Learn how former players can participate, and to view our current research, see our active and past projects.
We listen: Input from former players is the foundation of our work. Their top health concerns are our highest research priorities.
Our focus is on the whole player: We understand that player health is complex and cannot be reduced to a single condition or injury. This is why we study the many areas of health that may be impacted by a professional football career over time.
Our findings translate into information you can use: Our study team breaks down all of our findings along with information and resources to provide players with the best information to make informed decisions about their health.
Privacy and confidentiality is paramount: The privacy of our participants is of the utmost importance to our research team. We take every possible precaution to ensure that all information shared with us is kept entirely confidential.
Your privacy and confidentiality are extremely important to the Football Players Health Study team. All the information that you share will be de-identified (removing names and other information that could be used to identify you) and stored separately from all of your contact information in secure Harvard University databases. The questionnaires do not include your name, but are labeled with a code. Only a small number of trained study staff will be able to link your name to your code. When study results are shared, only de-identified results will be presented. Complete information, including FAQS, on privacy and confidentially is available on our website.
As leaders, physicians, and researchers who lead this study, we recognize and acknowledge the growing scientific consensus that repetitive traumatic brain injuries—particularly those sustained in American Style football and other contact sports—significantly increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. We acknowledge there has been significant suffering and pain sustained by those who have had these diseases, as well as for their loved ones and family members. While we cannot yet predict who will develop these conditions, nor the magnitude, we want to make clear that all of our work and research is based on the premise that the risk is real. It is a fact that the impact of symptoms attributable to neurodegenerative disease, including CTE, can be life-altering for players and their families.
As we acknowledge the seriousness and overwhelming circumstances of those former and current athletes who contend with neurodegenerative diseases in their lifetime, we are uniquely positioned in this study to investigate the precise factors that may contribute to the onset of symptoms related to neurodegenerative diseases associated with repetitive traumatic brain injury. Through our recent research initiatives, we have discovered other factors that can affect cognitive function and related behavior. Conditions that are related to or can modify the manifestations of neurodegenerative disease and may be common in active and former players include high blood pressure, hearing loss, depression, physical inactivity, arthritis, social isolation, and sleep disorders.
Our entire team is heartened by this discovery – and hopeful that we can continue progress in learning more about this to elucidate these findings and move forward with interventions. We are also discovering that many of these conditions are treatable through lifestyle interventions and/or medical therapy. We remain committed to understanding these devastating symptoms.
While work toward this goal progresses, we urge current and former football players and their families who are concerned about their brain health to work with their doctors to identify modifiable risk factors that could impact cognition and related behavior, and to implement plans to address any and all issues that may improve brain health. Early and sustained intervention targeting modifiable factors may improve or at least preserve cognitive function and enhance their quality of life.
Our work is shaped by the lived experiences of former players and their families, whose courage and insight guide the questions we ask and the priorities we pursue. Our mission is to advance research that improves health, enhances quality of life, and reflects the realities of the communities we serve. We remain deeply committed to rigorous science that honors the experiences of those affected and to sharing information with them that is supportive and respects the complexity of the challenges they face. We look forward to learning together as this work evolves to elucidate the realities of life and health after a career in football.