Then he remembers Reggie White, the Hall of Famer who died in 2004. He was just 43.

''That woke everybody up,'' said Slade, an NFL linebacker for nine seasons who retired after the 2001 season. ''No one was in better shape than Reggie. You can't be too sure or too careful.''

So, Slade, along with dozens of retired NFL players like himself, turned out Sunday at Atlanta's Emory Crawford Long Hospital in conjunction with a weekend convention for retirees of the NFL Players Association. They moved slowly from one room to the next, spending about three hours getting poked with needles and hooked up to machines.

These guys were the backbone of the league, helping create the multibillion-dollar behemoth that rules the sports world. Now, they're part of a growing effort to learn more about the health problems facing retired football players, in hopes of preventing someone else from dying young.

''You spend all those years ramming into people and using your body as a weapon,'' said 61-year-old Jeff Van Note, a former Atlanta Falcons center. ''I want to know about my body, what's wrong with it and what, if anything, I can do to help it.''

Six years ago, Dr. Archie Roberts founded the Living Heart Foundation. As a backup quarterback-turned-cardiologist, he was uniquely qualified to spread the message about what happens when the cheering stops.

''When they were younger, they thought they were invincible,'' Roberts said. ''I did, too. I ended up having a stroke after never being sick a day in my life.''

That was eight years ago. Roberts recovered, but the 65-year-old doctor still has a nasty scar down the left side of his neck as a reminder. It also spurred him to help other former players get a better handle on their health.

Roberts and those who work with his foundation have already screened some 1,200 former players and shared the information with the Mayo Institute. The early findings show this group is especially at risk for sleep apnea, hypertension, abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and enlarged hearts.