According to a new study, retired NFL players misuse opioid pain medication at a rate four times greater than the general public. The study goes on to connect the abuse to the number of painkillers athletes take during their playing days in the NFL. The results were published in 'Drug and Alcohol Dependence,' a peer-reviewed academic journal.

The study was conducted by scholars at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. It is also the first study conducted on painkiller misuse by former players. Linda Cottler, a professor of epidemiology in the school's Department of Psychiatry, led the study, which was commissioned by ESPN.

"This is important because of the public health implications for players of sports all over the world," Cottler said.

Among the key findings of the study are:

- More than half (52 percent) of former NFL players say they used prescription painkillers during their careers. Out of that group, 71 percent said that they abused the drugs, with 15 percent of them admitting to misusing the drugs over the last 30 days.

- 63 percent of former players who misused the drugs during their playing days got their medication from a nonmedical source (a teammate, coach or friend).

Dr. Lawrence Brown, the medical adviser for substance abuse in the NFL, argues that the results are flawed, namely because NFL players can't be compared with the general population. But investigative work over the last few months by ESPN has revealed that even though NFL players are subjected to a greater degree of injury and need for painkillers, they are consequently more vulnerable to addiction to these drugs as well.

"In the NFL and all sports, part of employment includes relief of pain because of the prevalence of injury," Brown said. "If you don't have the exposure, you're less likely to misuse."

The NFL doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to dealing with it's retired players. There's been an ongoing battle between the current league administration and players who were in the league when revenue was not what it is today. One former player, Brent Boyd, has helped launch a Website called Dignityafterfootball.org, which advocates for former players who've suffered disabilities and had their benefits denied. Boyd cites one legal battle after another where players have had to work hard to get the league to acknowledge the long-term effects that the NFL has had on their bodies. According to Boyd, the battle cry of retired players is "Delay, deny and hope we die!"

There's an old song with the lyrics, "Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys." Perhaps the person who wrote that song was referring to the Dallas Cowboys. Many children in black and brown communities across America are led into well-organized athletics systems before they even learn to read, leading to a lasting attachment to an NFL dream that typically turns into a nightmare.

I've seen many retired NFL players up close, and in quite a few cases, their bodies are so worn down that they can barely walk, run or jump. Also, many African American athletes have traded in their educational futures for a chance at NFL glory, only to end up out of the league in a couple of years. Most of us know what happens in the United States to a 24-year-old black man with a fifth-grade reading level, so it's not uncommon for former athletes to be broke, on drugs or incarcerated.

There's nothing wrong with steering our boys away from football. Although I loved football as a kid, I found out that there are far more productive and profitable uses of our talents. For example, DeMaurice Smith, the head of the NFL Players Association, is an attorney who will earn several million dollars per year for the rest of his life. He didn't earn that money by being an athlete; he earned it by being educated. We must make sure our boys do better.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the Athlete Liberation and Academic Reform Movement (ALARM). To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.