Following the release of a new study showing an alarming rate of CTE among deceased former NFL athletes, Pat McAfee is calling for the league to do more for retired players.
The British Medical Journal study estimated that 25 percent of former NFL players who died between 2016-21 showed signs of CTE, a degenerative brain condition caused by repeated head trauma. Researchers looked at hundreds of brains donated by these athletes, with more than 90 percent of these displaying traces of CTE. If zero other players who died over the five-year stretch had CTE, the average would still be 25 percent.
The troubling research was covered widely across NFL media on Tuesday, including on The Pat McAfee Show, where the former Indianapolis Colts punter took the opportunity to call for the league and its partners to expand medical insurance coverage for former players.
“The fact that there is a plethora of resources at least being presented is good for former players … lifetime medical, that seems like a layup for some NFL insurance partners,” he said. “I don’t know how that hasn’t happened yet. That feels like a very stupid hill to die on.”
Currently, the NFL and players’ association allow “vested” players who are in the league for more than three seasons to receive five additional years of medical, vision and dental insurance after they retire.
McAfee would like to see more resources allocated to make the program universal.
“Both the NFLPA and the NFL, every single CBA, have seemingly decided that that is not worthy of a conversation,” he added. “And I know the NFL expects the NFLPA to do it, and the NFLPA is like, ‘We’ve gotta worry about, you know, what your deal is.’ NFL, if you looked out for former players and provided insurance, it would be a big baby-face move for former players.”
In the United States, insurance is tied to employment, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has stated that even for first-round picks, the average career lasts just nine years. Careers run far shorter for fringe players, who still will have played in high school and college. Unions like the NFLPA negotiate with employers to push for benefits including health insurance. The increasingly clear health risks of playing in the NFL likely necessitate even stronger insurance policies than an average worker would have.
While McAfee believes most NFL players know these risks today, he believes it is incumbent upon the league and union to do as much as possible to protect them.
“The game is always going to be like that. Guys know it’s like that,” he said. “And I think guys would play every single time, knowing what’s possible, to change the trajectory of their entire lives. Football has been very good to a lot of people.”
“But I do think that we do gotta figure out how to not have the same sh*t happen in the future.”
McAfee endorsed rule changes and practice mandates like the new guardian caps that protect players. Still, he argued, universal health insurance for players seems more than feasible for a league raking in billions annually.
The ESPN host, as evidence, joked about the federal investigation into serial sports owner Mark Walter, who allegedly funneled money from customers’ life insurance policies into other businesses.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.