We investigated the "healthy athlete effect" (HAE) in American professional 
football. Ages of death of professional football players who debuted prior to 
1940 were obtained and differences between those ages and age-adjusted life 
expectancies were examined to determine if longevity increased with career 
length, controlling for birth year, body mass index (BMI), position, and type. 
Professional football players (N=1,512) lived an average of 6.1 (+/- 11.9 SD) 
years longer than age-matched controls from the general public. Career length 
significantly and incrementally increased longevity of players from an average 
of 5.5 years for players playing one season to 6.7 years for players playing 4 
or more seasons. Both birth year and BMI had a statistically significant 
association with longevity, but position type did not. These data provide strong 
support for the healthy worker effect (HWE) in professional football.