Sports injuries occur occasionally, with notable ones being sprains, tears, concussions, and many more. These injuries can be seen as devastating for players and fans which causes worry about the impact it gives. Most of the worries about injuries can be found in almost every sport, but when it comes to the NFL (National Football League), players get injured quite often.
The NFL is known for being one of the most physical sports, with padded players tackling each other constantly and aggressively every play. Fans love watching players hit into each other, something they find entertaining, but then leave concerned when it comes to players getting hurt. Most players get hurt from big hits and bad landings that can result in ligament tears, tendon tears, sprains, and many other serious injuries (Dennis Waszak Jr., AP News). Injuries like these occasionally become season-ending for players and possibly change how they perform on the field after being fully recovered.
The 2023-2024 season is still in progress but it has gotten some strange looks so far for the amount of injuries that have happened already halfway through the season. Notable names of season-ending injuries from this season are running back Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns who tore his MCL, quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets, and cornerback Trevon Diggs of the Dallas Cowboys. Players Aaron Rodgers and Trevon Diggs both experienced a torn ACL along with other players such as Mike Williams, Kirk Cousins, and J.K. Dobbins. Many question why so many injuries like these happen regularly. The turf on the field or the unnecessary roughness most players have in the league can be to blame for the injuries. (Logan Reardon, NBC News).
Turf has been on many fields in the NFL dating back to the 70s and normalized until now. Turf is seen as a problem to players because of the surface it gives while running down the field, showing its higher risk of injury to players. Players have felt differences between playing on a grass field and a turf field. They noticed that turf impacts the players’ rapid stoppage after running which affects the knees contrary to grass fields which don’t cause pressure on the knees and legs. Grass fields are taken into consideration to be normalized on all 30 NFL stadiums by the NFLPA to prevent injuries that happen on turf fields. (Kevin Seifert, ESPN).
One of the worst injuries this season took place in week two of the 2023-2024 NFL season in a matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. At the start of the 2nd quarter, running back Nick Chubb got tackled, causing his left knee to hit the ground hard in an awkward position. John W. North junior Edgar Flores explains what is the worst injury so far this season when he responded, “I feel like Nick Chubb suffered the worst injury this season because this is his second time injuring himself on the same knee which makes you feel bad for him.” Previous injuries players have had in the past can make recent or future ones worse, especially if the injury is on the same part the previous one took place.
Injuries occur through many other sports such as basketball, tennis, soccer and more. Many of these athletes face devastating injuries because of the surface they play on with chances of it being too slippery or too rough for players. Ways to prevent injuries and take care of the body can be through rehabilitation, simple stretching exercises, and rest.
