The league, in turn, surrounds them with resources to help them become the best they can be. NFL players are professionals in every sense of the word, well-paid and well-trained students of the game whose lives revolve around football. Their training and preparation often continues through the offseason. (Pro Football Hall of Fame) (AP Photo/Jeff Bottari)Īs players progress from high school through the pros, they’re increasingly supported, coached and counseled by trainers, nutritionists and medical staff that prepare them for peak performance on gameday and help them recover from injury.

Hall of Famer Wilbur “Pete” Henry, aka “Fats,” was one of the NFL’s largest and most dominant linemen in the 1920s at 5 feet 11 inches and 245 pounds, but would be dwarfed by present-day players such as 6 foot 6 inch, 313-pound New Orleans offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk. And players are more specialized by position, with physical attributes and customized training rituals unique to their roles. Most players are bigger and stronger - particularly offensive and defensive linemen, whose size and weight surpass the average man's. Competition for roster spots is fierce, with fewer than 1 percent of all college football players earning a roster post at the game’s highest level. Today, only football’s elite players get to the NFL, and they are very well-compensated: the average contract at the start of the 2017 season was $2.25 million. The game and the players changed over time as the rules changed, and as the league became more competitive, popular and prosperous. Their pay made them “professional” by definition, but with a laxity to the term that would not apply today. It was common for players to “job in” for weekend contests, which didn’t allow for practice time with their teams. Their lives didn’t revolve around the game. Physically, players were bigger, heavier and stronger than the average man, but not astronomically so.

Meager pay and a sport struggling for popularity meant players worked other jobs and the league struggled to attract talent. Playing rules prohibited most substitutions, so they played both offensive and defensive positions, on every down.

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