HORACE GILLOM (above and below) Born: April 25, 1911 Age at Death: 64▲ ▲
and dates of deaths for all its players. There were 493 men who
played on 16 MLB teams in 1930. One player died during the
1930 season and didn’t make the 80-year observation period,
leaving 492 players in my 1930 study.
All the players in both sports from the 1930 season are now
deceased. As a result, I was able to determine the average age
of death for both groups. The NFL players had an average age
of 70. 4 at death, and the MLB players an average age at death
of 71. 8. In other words, NFL players died 1. 4 years younger than
MLB players.
Age
Under 40
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80-89
90 and older
All ages
Under 70
70 and older
TABLE 3
NFL Mortality Experience of
441 Men Who Played in 1950
Expected
Deaths
13.78
25. 35
50.86
88.62
135.89
119.80
4. 71
439.01
178.61
260.40
Actual Deaths
3
16
33
57
124
101
8
342
109
233
A/E
(percent)
21. 8
63. 1
64. 9
64. 3
91.2
84.3
169.9
77.9
61.0
89.5
It’s interesting to note that there were five MLB players from
this cohort who lived to age 100, with the oldest dying at 100
years and 8 months, while the oldest NFL player lived to 98
years and 10 months.
Table 1 shows the mortality experience by age for the 1930
NFL players, and Table 2 shows the mortality experience by age
for the 1930 MLB players.
Comparing age brackets between the two sports, it becomes
clear that MLB players had uniformly better mortality and that
at age 70 and older, NFL mortality actually was worse than that
Age
Under 40
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80-89
90 and older
All ages
Under 70
70 and older
TABLE 4
MLB Mortality Experience of
530 Men Who Played in 1950
Expected
Deaths
14. 18
31. 22
64. 26
110.12
173.92
172.11
23. 59
589.40
219.78
369.62
Actual Deaths
2
15
49
66
119
127
24
402
132
270
A/E
(percent)
14. 1
48.0
763
59. 9
68. 4
73. 8
101.7
68. 2
60.0
73.0
JUL | AUG. 12 CONTINGENCIES 41
