It’s week 16 of the National Football League (NFL) season and star quarterbacks Justin Herbert of the Los Angles Chargers and C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans have joined the growing list of NFL starting quarterbacks sidelined by season ending or serious injuries. The list includes superstars like Aaron Rogers (New York Jets), Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals), Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings), DeShaun Watson (Cleveland Browns), as well as notable QB talents like Daniel Jones (New York Giants), Kenny Pickett (Pittsburgh Steelers), and Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis Colts).
But while starting quarterback injuries grab headlines because healthy quarterbacks are so critical to a team’s success, they are only the tip of the iceberg. The list of NFL players out due to injury in week 16 totals a staggering 329 players led by the Cleveland Browns with 18. The injuries sustained by players include: shoulder, ankle, knee, shin, groin, elbow, head, hamstring, heel, foot, concussion, rib, abdomen, pectoral, calf, neck — in short almost every part of the human anatomy.
Those injuries can happen in the blink of an eye and wreck a team’s season and their hopes of making the playoffs.
Football is a bruising contact sport and there will always be player injuries. More than any other team sport the game relies on brute force and physical strength, as well as speed and agility for success. But it wasn’t always this bad in terms of the number and severity of player injuries. In the 1950s and 1960s there were many players like the all-time great quarterback Bobby Lane who played fifteen NFL seasons without a facemask and yet escaped serious harm
What changed? It can be summed up in two words – player size.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) was an NFL powerhouse. The team’s success was due largely to their huge offensive line, nicknamed “the Hogs,” that dominated the line of scrimmage. At the start of their reign in 1982 that offensive line averaged 273 lbs. The largest “Hog” was tackle Joe Jacoby who tipped the scale at 300 lbs.
The lesson the Hogs taught on the playing field was not lost on other NFL teams. Fast forward to today. The Commanders’ offensive line now averages 317 lbs., a staggering increase of 44 lbs. in 45 years.3 An offensive lineman Jacoby’s size would hardly intimidate NFL defensive players today. New England Patriots tackle Trent Brown for example is a true giant, standing 6 ft. 9 in. and weighing 370 lbs. Many NFL offensive lines comfortably exceed the Commanders’ average weight.
How was this huge weight gain achieved? Through the consumption of prodigious quantities of calories and protein coupled with a ferocious regimen of weight training. NFL players are encouraged to eat between five and six meals a day plus between meal snacks that can total up to 10,000 daily calories. Oh, and let’s not overlook the widespread, often unchecked player abuse of steroids.
The results have been both astonishing and catastrophic. Catastrophic because along with the muscle mass and weight has come the leg strength to move that muscle mass with speed. Trent Brown runs the 40-yard dash in 5.29 seconds. And New York Jets tackle Mekhi Becton at 364 lbs., runs it in a blazing 5.1 seconds, faster than (now retired) Tom Brady. So, in NFL games today you see offensive linemen crash into defensive backs who may be only half their size, or defensive lineman smashing into quarterbacks weighing 100 lbs. less than they do.
It has reached the point that the human skeleton and the ligaments that hold it together are simply not strong enough to withstand the impact. The result is crushed ribs, broken ankles, wrists, legs, arms, knees, and shoulders, not to mention torn ligaments and serious head injuries.
The NFL is very aware of the problem and has tried to counter it by adopting ever more arcane and complicated rules in an attempt to protect players’ safety – especially quarterbacks. Penalties for things like chop blocks and helmet-first tackles have definitely helped, but have also left fans scratching their heads and players yelling in frustration over questionable or inconsistent penalty calls that can change the outcome of an entire game. That is bad for football.
There is only one answer. The NFL must set player weight limits. Such limits would be calibrated to a player’s height and phased in over time to give players time to adjust. The limits would not stop players from being hurt. But over time they would surely reduce the severity and length of player injuries, and reduce players’ use of steroids. It would restore the game of professional football to the more balanced game of strength, skill, and ability that it once was, and benefit fans as well as protect the players.
So, listen up NFL owners! It’s late in the 4th quarter and weight limits are overdue.
KC McAlpin is a freelance writer based in Harbor Springs, MI.
