#jacob bell

[marril96]

[winterizer]

A shower could've saved him.

[seattleseahawks12thman]

Bengals G Jacob Bell Retires at 31

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the long-term health affects of playing professional football, especially following the suicide of Junior Seau and the bounty program scandal in New Orleans.  And now, we're seeing some lingering effects of these events as recently signed Jacob Bell of the Cincinnati Bengals decides to retire at the age of 31.  As for his reasons, he says, "I want to get out before the game makes me get out, where I can get out on my own terms, and I can limit the amount of stress and negative impact that the game would leave on me."

These recent events are making players a little more aware of what kind of long-term impact the NFL can have on a player's health. It has been speculated that the recent suicide of NFL great Junior Seau may have been impacted by the physical/mental toll from playing football.  And Bell certainly took notice: "It's just crazy to see how someone like Junior Seau took his own life over -- God knows what he was really struggling and dealing with. But you have to believe it came from the game of football."

It's a sad reminder that the game we all love and enjoy to watch is taking a serious physical and mental toll on the people that are playing it.  This may be the first of many premature retirements stemming from fear of permanent health-risk, or it could be a standalone event.  Either way, we have to take a moment and truly appreciate the risk that these players take every time they step onto that field.