COMMON NFL INJURIES
The National Football League (NFL) ranks as one of the most widely followed professional sports leagues in the United States. The frequency of injuries in the NFL surpasses that of other team-oriented, contact-intensive sports including ice hockey and rugby. The most common injuries sustained by NFL players are to the lower extremities, starting with the ankle, knee, and hamstring.
We’ve highlighted a few interesting facts about common lower body injuries sustained by NFL Players in the article below and included links to some NFL-generated content discussing its continued efforts to improve player safety.
Hamstring Injuries
In each season the NFL sees about 176 hamstring injuries which can take a few days to heal or up to three months depending on the severity. The time for an NFL player to return to play after sustaining a hamstring injury is about 13 days. According to the NCBI, NFL players have a HSI recurrence rate of 38.4% and a 13.4% increased risk of reinjury if the player returned to play (RTP) within two weeks.
Hamstring injuries are common injuries found in most sports. David Beckham, Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, and LeBron James are just a few examples of seasoned celebrity athletes who have also sustained serious hamstring injuries over the years.
Fractures
The most common fracture sites in the NFL are the tibia, fibula, hand, finger, humerus, and forearm. The positions most likely to incur fractures are running backs, wide receivers, defensive backs, and quarterbacks due to the rate of speed prior to being hit as well as the increased amounts of jumping and landing required by their respective positions.
One of the most notable is Joe Theismann’s, QB Washington Redskins after being sacked by Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants in 1985. Another is Alex Smith, Washington Redskins compound fracture sustained in 2018 which became life-threating from complications due to infection. However, after 17 surgeries and miraculously avoiding amputation, he was able to return to play a few years later.
Ankle Sprains
Football players face a significant risk of ankle injuries because of the sport's intense physical requirements, which involve quick changes in direction, sprinting, and leaping. Among these injuries, sprains are particularly prevalent, especially for running backs and receivers.
Last season’s most notable NFL Ankle Sprain occurred during the playoffs, when Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain which he was able to play through in the AFC championship game and Super Bowl 57.
ACL/MCL Tears
According to the NFL, there were 52 ACL tears suffered by players in the 2023 season which is a whopping 24% drop over the two seasons prior. These injuries occur because of a variety of movements including pivoting, cutting, jumping, accelerating, and decelerating. ACL injuries take at least a year for recovery while MCL's are about three months. Some well-known NFL players who suffered and recovered from ACL/MCL injuries are, Tom Brady – torn ACL, Ron Gronkowski – torn ACL, torn MCL, and Adrian Peterson – torn ACL, torn MCL.
Injuries are prevalent in the NFL; however, the NFL has shown itself to be striving to make consistent progress over recent years to try to help ensure player safety. In its words: “Through its Play Smart. Play Safe. initiative, the National Football League is working to drive progress in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injuries, enhance medical protocols and further improve the way our game is taught and played.” NFL Health and Safety Fact Sheet: https://nflps.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NFL-Fact-Sheet-Health-and-Safety-9.2018-1.pdf
In its NFL presents series, the NFL published a video webinar discussion led by NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills entitled Reducing Lower Extremity Injuries. Check out the webinar by visiting https://www.nfl.com/playerhealthandsafety/health-and-wellness/player-care/nfl-presents-reducing-lower-extremity-injuries-video
Safety training and injury prevention is key in football and is crucial to the performance and well-being of athletes both on and off the field across all sports. As part of our philosophy at Dr. Lee S. Cohen and Associates we like to prevent pain and avoid injury before it happens. We do this by performing a full body, biomechanical examination, and functional movement screening, which includes a gait analysis (walking and running) that we do for all of our patients both young and old. If abnormalities are caught early on, it is easy to fix and realign body posture. Misalignment causes strain. Strain causes pain. And it all begins with the feet.
To learn more or schedule a biomechanical examination with one of our Sports Medicine Podiatry Experts contact us or call our office at (610) 522-9200 to schedule your appointment at our Cherry Hill, N.J. Sports Medicine Podiatry Center or Ridley Park PA. Office today.