Injury Rates in a National Sample of College Football Teams: A 2-Year Prospective Study

In brief: The National Sports Injury Surveillance System collected data during the 1986 and 1987 playing seasons from a national sample of 6,229 college football players. The overall injury rate for the two seasons was 6.32/1,000 athlete-exposures, or 45.27/100 athletes. Offensive players incurred more injuries than defensive players. The knee and ankle were the most common injury sites, and sprains were the most common injury. Injuries during games occurred most frequently in the third quarter and least often in the first quarter. This finding suggests that players might benefit from warming up and stretching during halftime rather than resting and cooling off.