My First Closeread
The Increase of NFL Player Weights Over Time
By Garrett Roehl
Every year, sports media loves to talk about the new batch of rookies in the National Football League.
Journalists go crazy over the strength and size of the young players and claim they are bigger and stronger than any rookie class seen before.
They talk about the way that football is constantly progressing due to the almost superhuman athletes who train their entire lives for the game.
However, that wasn’t always the case in professional football.
When the NFL was originally founded, players got paid very little and often held other careers.
By modern standards, they spent little time training.
Thus, I set out to investigate the trend in the weight of new players to the NFL over time.
As players devote more time, training, and effort to football, they are typically expected to bulk up and become stronger and heavier.
Therefore, I am investigating whether or not players’ weights have increased over time as football has begun to be taken more seriously.
I found a dataset including every player to ever play in the NFL from NFLsavant.com. Variables included player weight and the year they started playing in the NFL. Observations ranged from the year the NFL was founded, 1920, to 2013.
I averaged the weight of all new players in the NFL for each year. Players that had multiple entries into the dataset were removed.
There is some variation in rookie player weight from year to year, but over time player weights have consistently trended upward.
Players that debuted in 2002 were the heaviest group in the NFL’s history, as they averaged a bodyweight of about 237 pounds.
Players that debuted in 1922 were the lightest group in the NFL’s history, as they averaged a bodyweight of about 213 pounds.
Each of the dashed lines in the plot represent a significant date in the history of the NFL.
The first blue line, which is shown in the year 1933, represents the year that the NFL became racially segregated. All non-white men were banned from playing in the NFL.
The second blue line, which is shown in the year 1946, represents the year that the NFL was de-segregated, allowing non-white players to once again play in the league.
The first red line, depicted in the year 1960, represents the year of the creation of the American Football League, or the AFL. The AFL was an independent league competing with the NFL for business and player talent.
The second red line, depicted in the year 1970, represents the year of the merger between the NFL and the AFL. After 1970, the two leagues operated as one league, named the NFL.
In the years between 1920 and 1933, players of any racial identity were allowed to play in the NFL. In this era, most players held other jobs and could not devote their entire lives to training.
The average weight of new NFL players varied quite a bit, but the weight tended to increase over time.
In the years between 1933 and 1945, only white players could play in the NFL.
During this time of segregation and world war, the average weight of new players still varied, but generally tended to decrease over time.
Before 1960, the NFL had little competition as the primary professional football league. However, in 1960, the AFL was founded.
From the time the NFL was desegregated in 1945 to the time the AFL was founded, we see that the average weight of new NFL players stayed roughly constant.
Between 1960 and 1970, the NFL and AFL competed to sign new players. However, the AFL did not appear to have an effect on the average weight of new NFL players. The upward trend seen in the rest of the data appears to have been maintained while the AFL was in existence.
In 1970, the NFL and AFL merged into one league. Since then, player weights have still varied, but they have tended to increase over time.
Next, I wanted to investigate the average weight of new players over five different eras of the NFL.
Players who began their career between the time the NFL was formed in 1920 and the year before segregation rules were put in place, 1932, averaged a weight of 221.93 pounds.
Players who began their career during the NFL’s segregation era from 1933 to 1944 averaged a weight of 223.47 pounds.
Players who began their NFL career after desegregation in 1945 but before the formation of the AFL averaged a weight of 222.41 pounds.
Players who began their career between 1960 and 1969, while the AFL was in existence, averaged a weight of 223.34 pounds.
Players who have begun their career after the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 have averaged a weight of 225.85 pounds.
Although there has been variation in the weight of new players over time, the weight of new NFL players has tended to increase over time.
If this investigation were taken further, it would be interesting to look into the effect that new training methods and research have on the weight of new players. It would also be interesting to compare the quality of weight players have over time. Then, we would know whether the weight is largely muscle or fat.
Average Weight for New Players in Each Era
Pre-Segregation Era: 221.93 LBs
Segregation Era: 223.47 LBs
1945 - 1959: 222.41 LBs
Era of AFL Existence: 223.34 LBs
Post NFL-AFL Merger: 225.85 LBs
Pre-Segregation Era: 221.93 LBs
Segregation Era: 223.47 LBs
1945 - 1959: 222.41 LBs
Era of AFL Existence: 223.34 LBs
Post NFL-AFL Merger: 225.85 LBs
Works Cited
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