CHICAGO (AP) -- Government research on more than 3,000 retired NFL players says suicides were less common among men in this group than in the general population.
The researchers say the results aren't necessarily applicable to all NFL players, though, and they don't resolve the issue of whether suicides are more common in players with a degenerative brain disease linked with repeated concussions.
The research is from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The agency has for decades been studying a group of retirees who played at least five seasons between 1959 and 1988.