Why do football and rugby players generally retire around early 30s?
In a word — entropy! By their early 30’s professional rugby players generally have at least 15 years of wear and tear from playing high level rugby on a full-time basis. They are also starting to slow down — the human nervous system usually begins to lose its capacity to transmit signals to muscles at around that age. So does its ability to recover quickly from injury. With luck on avoiding serious injuries, good genetics and an intensive training program it is possible to compete at that level into your late 30’s, but it is the exception and not the rule. Even in non-contact sports like baseball, basketball and tennis — well ask yourself how many players are competitive in those sports past the age of 35. Very, very few. American football players probably have it worst — by their early 30’s many are physical cripples, and ten years later early-onset demential often kicks in.
