Of the 644 retired NFL players asked in a survey if they took prescription pain medicine during their career 52% used painkillers. Of the 52% that used painkillers, 71 percent said they misused the drugs then, and 15 percent of the misusers acknowledged misusing the medication within the past 30 days. Dan Johnson, former Miami Dolphins tight end, says he took nearly 1,000 painkillers a month to overcome pain from his playing days. Wow.