Taco,
This topic has come up before and has gotten mixed results and feedback from posters here.
The general feeling seems to be that you need to decide whether or not your professor is willing to approach your paper with an open mind. Many professors are intense liberals (I can attest to that, I assure you.) and will not even consider fielding such an idea. My own Composition professor essentially shot down such an idea that I offered to her last semester.
If everything falls into place, I can only commend you for undertaking this paper
I think
this compilation of articles, courtesy of ToughJ.Riggins, jaxvid and others will certainly help you for mainstream media references and information.
Perhaps one of our "scouting specialists" can provide you with a resource for raw numbers such as 40 times, height, wieight, et cetera like you mentioned. Good luck!
Edited by: PhillyBirds