NFL should adopt weight limit

A study a few years ago recognized something alarming about the NFL and its players.

It's their life expectancies. It's ridiculously short — 56 for NFL players as a whole, 52 for linemen. That's in stark contrast to the general population, which lives to the ripe old age of 78.

There is a primary reason for the short life span of NFL players. It's that so many of them — linemen especially — are massive and massive on purpose. They gorge themselves and bulk up by lifting weights until they reach the average size of today's linemen, which is in the 300-pound range.

Three-hundred pounds, no matter how tall and broad you are, is way too taxing on a person's heart. It can also lead to other health problems, such as diabetes.

There seems a simple way to solve a problem that has not just touched the NFL, but college and high school football as well. It's to put a mandatory weight limit on all players, something like 285 pounds. If you tip the scale at more than that, you're not eligible to play.

The weight limit would do nothing to detract from today's game. In fact, linemen would look and play with even more speed than they do now, minus those extra pounds. And it would go a long way toward allowing players to live longer, healthier lives once their playing days are done.

— Pat Ruff