In a physical sport like football, there’s one thing that can’t be avoided, wear and tear. And that wear and tear can turn into injuries such as knee injuries, and a common one now is concussions The grind of the game is very tough, and here’s what’s happening and what they should do to try and prevent and or limit it.

What is causing these injuries:

In the past few weeks, there has been plenty of time in between stops because of injuries. Those injuries are ACL tears, torn Achilles, PCL, concussions, and very much more with no end in sight. The main cause it seems is non-contact injuries after the play or just plain overuse. One cause of these is of course the hits and tackles, running backs run approximately 20 miles per hour on one carry. They are essentially simulating a car crash 10-20 times a game even if the hits aren’t big. It also works with hard-hitting safeties like Andre Cisco and Minkah Fitzpatrick, defenders whose playstyle is physically based. The run-of-the-mill hits also cause tons of damage to head trauma or just the whole body. 

Another cause of injuries can be chalked up to the quality of the playing field. Out of all teams, 14 out of 32 do not have a natural grass field like at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, they instead go for the alternative in artificial turf commonly known as Astroturf. Why is this a problem? The material the turf is made out of doesn’t break easily unlike actual grass, which can catch onto cleats and keep them stuck fighting against the turf. There has been more of a trend of noncontact injuries because of this, such as Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray tearing his ACL when sliding. The big thing is that astroturf is like they’re pretty much playing under concrete, so like playing on a pseudo grass rug under the driveway.

What we can do to try and prevent:

The main way we can prevent the uprising of noncontact injuries is by replacing the turf with natural grass and a base like dirt or sod under it. But also taking multiple steps and strides to maintain the grass to make sure it is suitable for football playing. As we know from the “Mud Bowl” in 2007, just because it’s real doesn’t make it suitable. And as we know from the previous Super Bowl, you can throw a ton of money at a grass field but can’t buy the love and care it needs. The NFL may be pivoting towards this since one-third of the NFL Stadiums will host a Fifa World Cup group stage in 2026. And Fifa requires natural grass to be the standard. We’ll see what happens on this front because I feel there is one choice. Player safety.