Pat McAfee Calls for NFL Lifetime Insurance Following BMJ Study on CTE Prevalence

A British Medical Journal study has estimated that 25 percent of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to Awful Announcing. CTE is a degenerative brain condition caused by repeated head trauma. Researchers examined hundreds of brains donated by these athletes, with more than 90 percent displaying traces of CTE, per Awful Announcing.

The findings prompted Pat McAfee, a former Indianapolis Colts punter, to call for an expansion of the NFL's medical coverage structure during coverage of the study on The Pat McAfee Show. McAfee said: "The fact that there is a plethora of resources at least being presented is good for former players ... lifetime medical, that seems like a layup for some NFL insurance partners. I don't know how that hasn't happened yet. That feels like a very stupid hill to die on."

Currently, "vested" players who remain in the league for more than three seasons receive five additional years of medical, vision and dental insurance after retirement, per Awful Announcing. McAfee stated that both the NFLPA and the NFL have excluded lifetime insurance from every collective bargaining agreement negotiation, saying: "Both the NFLPA and the NFL, every single CBA, have seemingly decided that that is not worthy of a conversation."

McAfee argued that lifetime insurance is feasible given the league's financial position and appealed to the NFL's interest in player welfare, saying: "NFL, if you looked out for former players and provided insurance, it would be a big baby-face move for former players." He also endorsed existing protective measures like the new guardian caps mandated in practice, per Awful Announcing.

McAfee acknowledged that players knowingly accept the health risks inherent to football. He said: "The game is always going to be like that. Guys know it's like that, and I think guys would play every single time, knowing what's possible, to change the trajectory of their entire lives." Despite this acknowledgment, he argued that insurance expansion would not be a significant burden for the league, per Awful Announcing.

Whether the NFL or NFLPA has responded to McAfee's call for lifetime insurance, and whether the league intends to address the coverage gap in future negotiations, remains unreported.