Player Research

The NFLPA’s health and safety priorities reflect a comprehensive commitment to player-centered care. By advocating for stronger medical protections, supporting independent research, advancing sports health practices, and providing resources across every stage of a Player’s journey, the NFLPA works to safeguard players’ immediate needs while promoting sustained health, performance, and quality of life.

• 2026 - Prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy at death in National Football League players: retrospective population-based cohort study, 2008-21. British Medical Journal. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/content/394/bmj-2026-100418  
• 2026 - Neurodegenerative mortality among National Football League Players.  The Lancet eClinicalMedicine. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(26)00304-4/fulltext  
• 2026 – Associations Between Football-Related Exposures, Head Injury, Tinnitus, and Neuropsychological Health Outcomes Among Professional American-Style Football Players.  Sports Medicine Open.  Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42319726/  
• 2026 - Data-Driven Gradual Preseason Practice Acclimation Ramp Reduces Lower Extremity Strains in the National Football League. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41934369/
• 2026 - Video Analysis of Achilles Tendon Ruptures in the National Football League: Situational Patterns, Injury Mechanisms, and Paths for Injury Prevention. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Available at: https://res.cloudinary.com/dapdr4oqo/images/v1780929310/teater-et-al-2026-video-analysis-of-achilles-tendon-ruptures-in-the-national-football-league-situational-patterns-1/teater-et-al-2026-video-analysis-of-achilles-tendon-ruptures-in-the-national-football-league-situational-patterns-1.pdf?_i=AA  
• 2026 – Assessment of the mechanics of the shoe-turf release phenomenon over a range of normal loads. Sports Engineering.  Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12283-026-00558-3
• 2026 - Influence of Sport Surface Properties on Utilized Traction and Lower Extremity Biomechanics of American Football Players. Applied Sciences. Available at: https://res.cloudinary.com/dapdr4oqo/images/v1778090433/Wannop-et-al.-2026-Influence-of-Sport-Surface-Properties-on-Utilized-Traction-and-Lower-Extremity-Biomechanics-of-Ameri/Wannop-et-al.-2026-Influence-of-Sport-Surface-Properties-on-Utilized-Traction-and-Lower-Extremity-Biomechanics-of-Ameri.pdf?_i=AA  
• 2025 - Characterizing body postures by injury scenarios: a video review analysis of hamstring strain injuries in the National Football League. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. Available at: https://res.cloudinary.com/dapdr4oqo/images/v1774633030/Myslinski-et-al.-2025-Characterising-body-postures-by-injury-scenarios-a-video-review-analysis-of-hamstring-strain-injuri/Myslinski-et-al.-2025-Characterising-body-postures-by-injury-scenarios-a-video-review-analysis-of-hamstring-strain-injuri.pdf?_i=AA
• 2025 - Injury Scenarios of Ankle Sprains in the National Football League. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Available at: https://res.cloudinary.com/dapdr4oqo/images/v1744996673/o-cain-et-al-2025-injury-scenarios-of-ankle-sprains-in-the-national-football-league-external-rotation-and-eversion/o-cain-et-al-2025-injury-scenarios-of-ankle-sprains-in-the-national-football-league-external-rotation-and-eversion.pdf?_i=AA  

• 2024 - NFLPA Commits $2 Million to Fund Studies of the Brain and Gut Microbiome Relationship to better Treat Head Injuries. Read More > https://nflpaweb.blob.core.windows.net/website/Departments/Communications/PRESS-RELEASE_Gut-Microbiome-and-the-Brain.pdf

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All Publications Found Here

Publications:

• Concussions Are Associated with Increases in Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Risk in American-Style Football Athletes
• Contributors to Caregiver Burden, Depression, and Anxiety in the Partners of Professional American-style Football Players: A Cross-sectional Study
• Risk of Long-Term Ischemic Stroke in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury and Incident Hypertension
• Posttraumatic osteoarthritis after athletic knee injury: A narrative review of diagnostic imaging strategies
• Age of First Exposure Does Not Relate to Post-Career Health in Former Professional American-Style Football Players
• Medical Conditions in Former Professional American-Style Football Players Are Associated With Self-Reported Clinical Features of Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome  
• Interaction of Medical Conditions and Football Exposures Associated with Premortem Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Diagnosis in Former Professional American Football Players  
• Career duration and later-life health conditions among former professional American-style football players
• Perceived Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and Suicidality in Former Professional Football Players
• Explainable machine learning for predicting conversion to neurological disease: Results from 52,939 medical records
• Career Duration and Later-Life Health Conditions Among Former Professional American-Style Football Players
• Perceived Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and Suicidality in Former Professional Football Players
• Medical Conditions in Former Professional American-Style Football Players Are Associated With Self-Reported Clinical Features of Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome  
• Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis after Athletic Knee Injury: A Narrative Review of Diagnostic Imaging Strategies
• Age of First Exposure Does Not Relate to Post-Career Health in Former NFL Players
• Concussion Burden and Later-Life Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Former Professional American-Style Football Players
• Risk of Long-Term Ischemic Stroke in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury and Incident Hypertension
• Interaction of Medical Conditions and Football Exposures Associated with Premortem Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Diagnosis in Former Professional American Football Players
• Interaction of Medical Conditions and Football Exposures Associated with Premortem Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Diagnosis in Former Professional American Football Players
• Long-Term Risk of Cardiovascular Disease After Traumatic Brain Injury: Screening and Prevention
• The Paradox of Integration: Racial Composition of NFL Positions from 1960 to 2020
• Race Differences in Pain and Pain-Related Risk Factors Among Former Professional American-Style Football Players
• Tau Positron Emission Tomography and Neurocognitive Function Among Former Professional American-Style Football Players
• A Case Report of Reversible Cognitive Decline in a Former Professional American-Style Football Player: Findings from the Football Players Health Study In-Person Assessments
• Association of Retrospectively Reported Concussion Symptoms with Objective Cognitive Performance in Former American-Style Football Players
• Association Between Concussion Burden During Professional American-Style Football and Post-Career Hypertension
• Healthspan and Chronic Disease Burden Among Early Adult and Middle-Aged Former Professional Football Players. British Journal of Sports Medicine
• Preoperative Risk Factors of Subsequent Ipsilateral ACL Revision Surgery following an ACL Restoration Procedure
• Adapting Brief Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia for Former National Football League Players: A Pilot Study. Behavioral Sleep Medicine
• Association of Traumatic Brian Injury with the Risk of Developing Chronic Cardiovascular, Endocrine, Neurological, and Psychiatric Disorders
• Multi-modality human phenotyping to examine subjective and objective health afflictions in former professional American-style football players: The In-Person Assessment (IPA) protocol
• Evaluation of adverse childhood experiences and neuropsychiatric health and dementia in former professional American-style football players
• Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport at 6 Months Is Higher After Bridge-Enhanced ACL Restoration Than Autograft ACL Reconstruction Results of a Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial
• Association between self-reported and objective measures of repetitive head injury exposure and hypertension in former American-style football players
• Tau aggregation in former American-style football players exposed to repetitive head injury using positron emission tomography
• Segregation and Integration in Professional American Football: The Association between Race and Players’ Position from 1960 to 2019
• Reversible cognitive decline in a former American-style football player
• Race differences in pain and pain-related risk factors among former professional American-style football players

• Association of retrospectively reported concussion symptoms with objective cognitive performance in former American-style football player

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