NFL players from the 1988 season remain loyal to the game in their retirement years, encouraging their children to play, coaching youth football and watching games on TV, but 1 in 4 said they would ban tackle football below the high school level, a new survey found.
The findings on former players' attitudes are part of the ESPN/KFF Survey of 1988 NFL Players, an independent survey on the total health of those retired from the game. The survey included 546 players who played in at least one game during the 1988 season -- more than one-third of the players who are still alive from that season. Their average age was 62.
Since this group of players retired from the game, scientific evidence has increasingly established links between football and later cognitive issues. Concerns about that linkage have led some lawmakers to propose banning youth tackle football. While some ex-pros, including Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski, have supported a ban, no state has enacted one.
Attitudes among retired players appear to reflect a note of caution: While ex-players widely continue to embrace the game, many appear to recognize its dangers for young people.
Among those surveyed, 81% said they regularly watch the NFL and 91% said football had a positive impact on their lives. But when it came to youth tackle football, more than a third said the risks of playing tackle football before high school outweigh the benefits. Additionally, 26% said youth tackle should be banned.
"There's no reason in the world they should be slamming heads at 13, 14, 15 years old," Steve Wright, a former offensive tackle for the Cowboys, Colts and Raiders from 1981 to 1992, told ESPN after he participated in the survey. "I don't think with what we know now."
On the flip side, though, 71% of players said that they would oppose a ban, and nearly half -- 47% -- said that the benefits of tackle football before high school outweigh the risks. About 6 in 10 respondents who are parents encouraged their children to play football.
At the national level, participation rates in organized youth flag and tackle football have remained largely unchanged in the five years through 2023, according to data compiled by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
As part of the survey, former players also were asked a series of open-ended questions, and their responses were anonymous. For those who encouraged their children to play football, many cited the sport's intangible values. "It builds character, social skills, physical skills ... [teaches you] how to take defeat as well as winning," one said.
"There are life lessons, like dealing with adversity, [and] being able to accomplish a goal," another said.
"There isn't a better metaphor for life than physically getting knocked down and then getting up and doing it again, and again, and again, and again, and again," one former player said.
In an interview apart from his survey responses, former NFL defensive tackle Robb White, who played for the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1988 to 1990, said football taught him teamwork and discipline. Both his sons played tackle football.
"All of these things, the hard work, everything, the intangibles -- [that are] very difficult to measure -- those are the benefits that I think are lifelong, that I think far, far, far outweigh the risks," White said. "And it's served both of our boys incredibly well."
Even among parents who said football negatively impacted their physical and mental health, about half said they encouraged their children to play. About three-quarters of all 1988 players who are parents had children who played tackle football, and 41% had a child play in college or professionally.
Keith Browner Sr., a linebacker from 1984 to 1988, said he understands the physical price of playing football. He told ESPN that he experiences chronic pain and mood swings.
"From football," Browner, now a forklift driver, said in an interview after his participation in the survey. "It gets your body, breaks it down."
Despite knowing the risks, he said he encouraged his son, Keith Browner Jr., to play.
"He's seen it. He knew what I went through. And he's seen me play," Browner said. "And I already knew he could see the pain that I was going through. Half the time when he used to see me, I couldn't walk and something was messed up on my body or brain."
But football ran in the Browner family. Three of Browner's six brothers and his nephew also played in the NFL, and so when his son showed interest, Browner said he encouraged him to play. Browner Jr., who declined to be interviewed by ESPN for this story, played one season for the Houston Texans in 2014.
"He did a great job getting through [to the] NFL. And it made me proud," Browner said.
Only 7% of former players who are parents said that they discouraged their children from the sport. In open-ended answers, many pointed to injuries and concussions they sustained. One simply said: "I realized what [it has] done to me." Another said, "I don't wish living like this on anybody, especially my kids!!"
Brian Noble, a Green Bay Backers linebacker from 1985 to 1993 who also participated in the ESPN/KFF survey, coached at two high schools after his NFL career. In an interview with ESPN, Noble said he struggled to watch his players get injured. "It really affected me deeply 'cause I knew what the kids were going to face," he said.
Noble, 62, had a knee replacement before he turned 40 and said he's still dealing with the consequences of a back injury sustained during a 1992 game that left him paralyzed for 8 minutes.
He and his wife, Cindy, said he has been diagnosed with traumatic encephalopathy syndrome, a potential precursor to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can only be diagnosed after death. Cindy said he's also going to be tested for Alzheimer's disease.
Noble's day-to-day activity is mostly confined to his home in Las Vegas, as being in public can "[wreak] havoc on his brain," Cindy said.
"It's been a beat-down of my life, especially postcareer, where you expect to be as a 60-year-old man and where I'm at as a 60-year-old man," Noble said. "My brother is 10 years older than me, and he's still fishing and hunting and doing all kinds of stuff. Where I couldn't even fathom trying to walk up a mountain right now."
Two of their daughters and two grandchildren live nearby. Cindy said their 5-year-old grandson knows that his "papa" hurt his brain from football and is careful not to yell and run around Noble.
They're firm: "Our grandson will not play football," Cindy said. "We know too much. We live it every day."
Nearly 7 in 10 players surveyed said they have coached a youth or high school football team. When answering open-ended questions about allowing their children to play, several said they became coaches to help protect their children from the violence of the game.
"They wanted to play tackle football at an early age," one player said. "We decided the best way to make sure they are as protected as possible was for me to help coach proper technique and fundamentals."
Another said, "My firstborn son wanted to play football, and I was against it. But after he came to me and said, 'Dad, I want to play the game,' I decided to become a part of the coaching staff and support him. In youth league tackle football, you need someone with experience. ... I taught those kids, including my son, how to play the game the correct way. And still be tough on that field."
One player explaining why he discouraged his children from playing tackle football said: "Bad coaches out there."
Eight in 10 players said they regularly watch the NFL. A similar share said they think professional football is safer today compared with when they played.
In interviews after the survey, players from 1988 told ESPN they recalled routine, full-speed practices and scrimmages in pads. Back then, the NFL did not have rules that prevented targeting, leading with your helmet or returning to play after a concussion. Today, the league has implemented practice rules, equipment standards and health protocols meant to protect players from reckless play and injuries.
But 1988 players also said the pace of play is faster and the players are stronger today compared with the 1980s.
"It's changed a lot in the way that they approach the game and how they protect players," Noble said. "And kudos to them, 'cause it's better now for the players. But back in the day, it was devastating to players as far as their future was going."