The Effect of NFL Player Position and Number of Injuries on Overall Career Longevity

Injuries in the NFL are common across player positions, with type of injury varying accordingly. For example, quarterbacks have more shoulder injuries relative to other positions2. The impact of specific injuries such as ACL or meniscal tears on career length or likelihood of return to the sport has been researched3. Player position affects the length of career, and longer careers correlate with better performance1. However, there is a lack of research on the total number of injuries sustained during an NFL career and how that correlates with player position and career longevity. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between overall number of injuries and career longevity based on NFL player position. METHODS: The NFL transaction list was searched for players whose NFL careers ended between 2015-2019 for a total of 3,329 players. Player position, length of career, and the number of times players were placed on the injury reserve list were analyzed for correlation and significance. RESULTS: Of the 3,329 players, the average length of career was 4.42 years with an average of 0.85 injuries. Kickers, long snappers, middle linebackers, and outside linebackers had the longest average career lengths of all the player positions ranging from 5.91-7.85 years. Defensive backs, linebackers, offensive guards, and wide receivers had some of the shortest average careers ranging from 3.06-4.04 years. For injuries, middle linebackers and safeties had the highest number of injuries (1.22-1.72), whilst punters and quarterbacks had the least amount of injuries (0.20-0.63). When these metrics were combined, higher injuries per year of career (I/YOC) were seen for linebackers (0.22-0.27 I/YOC, p < 0.00001) and tight ends (0.20-0.26 I/YOC, p < 0.00001). Kickers (0.06-0.12 I/YOC, p = 0.0002), long snappers (0.05-0.12 I/YOC, p = 0.021), punters (0.03-0.09 I/YOC, p = 0.43), and quarterbacks (0.08-0.12 I/YOC, p = <0.00001) had lower injuries per year. CONCLUSION: Positions with high physical contact such as linebackers or those that put a large strain on the body such as wide receivers and safeties tend to have more injuries and shorter career longevity which suggests some correlation between the two. Middle linebackers don’t follow the trend as they have one of the longest career lengths and most injuries.