Is the NFL trying to cover up the ACL injuries to make their decision look better?
Depending on how the NFL’s injury tracking service officially classifies this season’s injuries, it’s quite possible 2013 will have brought two major injury milestones:
- The highest number of ACL injuries, suffered in either practices or games, on record.
- The highest number of players placed on injured reserve because of any kind of knee injury in at least three years.
In a memo put out by the NFL in December, they noted there had been 30 torn ACLs in preseason and regular-season games through Week 13. That list, however, did not include injuries suffered during offseason practices, training camp or regular-season practices.
A number of independent bloggers have tracked ACL tears during that extended time period, beginning with offseason workouts last May. I’ve worked with a list all year and I have a total of 63 total ACL injuries. I don’t know if the NFL is trying to cover something up, but the policy needs to be changed. NaVorro Bowman was the 63rd player to injury his ACL which happened this past week. The number is ridiculous and could be prevented, if the NFL allowed players to tackle high.
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