NFL's rush of blood growing extreme

[size=12pt]The NFL thrives on mayhem, and the brutality has increased.[/size]
http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/30718754.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:a ULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU
Studies have found that NFL players enjoy a far shorter life expectancy than the general population. It's not a cliché: Football players give their lives to play the game.

Doctors have compared the trauma caused by violent football collisions to the effects of car wrecks. For football players, the car wrecks are weekly, voluntary and, if you ask Vikings coach Brad Childress, necessary.

"Football's a violent game," Childress said. "You want guys who play it violently, who sell out, who have no regard for their bodies, that can pull the trigger...

Makes sense that if it wasn't so financially rewarding it might not be worth it.

Check out the book: Play Hard, Die Young...

Sacrifice your life to win a game.
Sounds like a good trade off to me.

... but isn't it true that African American men have a shorter life expectancy than white men, and 70 % of the NFL is African American. So it seems like that is a bogus stat, because you are comparing a group of people who are 70 % black with the country as a whole, which is mostly white.

I hate to bring up race, but isn't that a relevant fact in this ?