A chronicle of injuries of an American intercollegiate football team

Abstract

Many studies concerning the injuries occuring in high school and intercollegiate football have been re ported, including those emphasizing the number and type of injuries, geographic distribution of injuries, and the rate of injury compared to position, condition ing, officiating, equipment, and type of playing sur face. This report focuses on the individual player involved in a sports program for four or five years and emphasizes the statistical probability of that individual sustaining an injury during his playing career. Conclusions, drawn from statistics compiled at Memphis State University from 1975 through 1979, involved 265 athletes. These 265 athletes sustained 283 injuries during this period. Of these 283 injuries, 69% were mild, 20% were moderate, and 11% were severe. The knee was most often involved and suf fered the most severe injuries. Ankle injuries ac counted for the second highest incidence of injury, but these were primarily mild or moderate injuries. The defensive line, especially the defensive ends, received the greatest percentage of injuries. The prob ability of injury for the individual player was found to be 106.7% for a five-year participant, 99.1% for a four-year participant, and 46.6% for a one-year par ticipant.