It’s a well-known fact that in the NFL, injuries will happen. I mean, a bunch of big, fast, strong, physical specimens colliding into one another while running at maximum speed will tend to result in players going down with various ailments.

What is a surprise, however, is how the players have been getting injured. That is, which body parts are most susceptible to injury/more commonly showing up on the injury report. While concussions have dominated the NFL’s (and most other contact sports’) headlines recently, the most likely reason a player could be sidelined for an extended period of time is actually a different part of the body – the knees.

By the Numbers

According to VegasInsider.com‘s updated NFL injury report, there were 307 NFL players placed on the season-ending injured reserve this year. There are many parts on the human body that can cause a player to miss the season, but of those 307 players on the IR, 141 of them were due to knee injuries – 45.9 per cent.

Almost half of all season-ending injuries in the National Football League this year were due to serious knee injuries. And it wasn’t just a case of, say, running backs being taken out at the knees, or offensive lineman being chopped down; the list of players spans all positions, and in 2015 included some pretty high-profile players:

• Quarterback and former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.
• All-Pro running backs Jamaal Charles and Le’Veon Bell.
• Pro Bowl wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Vincent Jackson, plus superstar tight end Jimmy Graham.
• Defensive backs Tyrann Mathieu, Brandon Flowers and Orlando Scandrick.
• Defensive lineman Dante Fowler Jr. (Third-overall pick in this year’s NFL draft).
• Kicker Shaun Suisham.

Sunday’s Super Bowl Matchup

If we take a smaller sample size and just look at the two teams in the Super Bowl – the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos – we’ll see that they aren’t impervious to the injury bug either.

Carolina has 21 players listed on their injury report –10 of them are knee injuries. Of their eight players on the long-term IR, six are knee-related. That Carolina is 17-1 is remarkable considering wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, their top offensive option for QB Cam Newton, missed the entire season with a knee injury.  Needless to say, the depth of their team and reserves is the main reason for them having such a successful season and reaching the coveted Super Bowl.

Denver has far fewer injuries – only nine listed (seven IR), but of those wounded players, five of them (four of the IR) are knee injuries, including starting left tackle Ryan Clady; perhaps the most important offensive lineman.

What does it all mean? Even with the best physical training possible, elite athletes and players at optimal health still suffer devastating knee injuries. So while you may be doing everything you can to prevent injuries from happening, you still need to be ready to deal with an injury should one occur: that includes rehabilitation and possibly the use of a knee brace, such as the bionic knee braces offered by Spring Loaded Technology.

Spring Loaded’s Bionic Knee Brace,“Levitation^TM”, will help reduce wear and tear by offloading bodyweight and can optimize performance for athletes of all levels.  Additionally, for those whose knees have bound them to the Injured Reserve, it will help in rehabilitation (getting to weight-bearing faster) after surgery or major knee injury.

Spring Loaded Technology is about to change the game.