Soccer/Football Players Are "Smarter" Than University Students?

Here's an interesting article that points out that playing various types of sports can improve a person's mental alertness.  Football players (or soccer players as we call them in the USA) have more advanced mental abilities in regard to certain mental tasks.

Unfortunately, the report does not seem to indicate whether playing sports will also make a person more creative, or better at math, or more insightful.  If "alertness" is the only benefit, sports might not be worth pursuing as a means to help improve one's mind. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2271411/Premiership-footballers-sharper-average-uni-student-Hyper-focus-gives-elite-sportsmen-mental-edge.html

1)  Does this report seem to indicate that more physical education programs are necessary in our schools?

2)  Do you think that the mental or cognitive achievement players get by playing sports can help them in any meaningful field of life?  Or is this kind of a wasted intellectual potential that is only really useful in a sport?