These Are The Most Common Injuries For NFL Players
Any athlete signing up for a career in professional sports should always expect the possibility of an injury. While there are certain sports that come with the threat of injuries more than others, the likelihood is almost inevitable. Football for instance is a very popular collision sport with a lot of legal plays that not only endanger a player’s physical health, but mental health too. The sport requires physicality such as blocking, tackling, and rushing opponents, making football players subject to a lot of harm, most notably concussions.
One of the most dangerous and known injuries associated with NFL players are concussions. Even with required helmets, players can often get knocked out cold on the field from impact. And repeated and constant hard hits come with another concern — Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.
Most people know concussions are likely from vehicular accidents, but football players are at risk because even their helmets alone can’t protect them from a brain injury. They can also develop CTE, a degenerative brain disease still in research and mostly discovered in autopsy, according to the Mayo Clinic. According to The Guardian, deceased NFL player Aaron Hernandez had it. The condition can cause depression, memory loss, and aggressive behavior.
Legs Go!
It is by no surprise that a sport that has kicking and running is going to come with some leg injuries. And needless to say, trauma to the knees is expected. In fact, it is the No. 1 site of injury for football players, per CBS. All the muscles surrounding the knee joints have been known to have been torn in some way or another by an NFL player. According to the NFL, ACL and MCL tears are common and very severe. Without proper recovery, it can end a football career.
But football players can expect any part of their legs to go down with some injury. Ankle sprains and upper leg pains are the second and third most common injuries. An NFL player nursing any leg pain can miss out on playing an entire season because these injuries highly affect a player’s ability, movement, and overall agility.
Dislocated Bones
Though not as common and career-ending, injuries to the fingers and shoulders are other potential issues NFL players will run into.
Either through ball handling, throwing, or tackling, every bone and ligament in the finger is in jeopardy when playing football. A jersey finger is a frequent threat of injury. It can happen when a player’s finger gets caught in another’s jersey during play, per the Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center. As seen at SBNation, having a mangled set of meat hooks is quite typical of current and former NFL players. Unless you’re Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Jason Pierre Paul, who infamously lost a finger during a fireworks incident gone wrong.
Shoulders can also get dislocated during play. While these instances account for a smaller percentage of football injuries, they are considered very minor and not a threat to a player’s career. And apparently, most football players will dislocate their shoulder but can make full recovery the majority of the time, per Healio.
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