Football May Not Be as Dangerous as Everyone Thinks, Study Says A new study analyzing sports injury data challenges the long-held perception of football as one of the most dangerous sports, particularly at the NFL level. Conducted by Davidoff Law Personal Injury Lawyers, the research compared injury rates across 55 sports, measuring risks per 1,000 hours of participation. While football remains a high-risk sport due to its massive participation numbers and inherent physicality, the findings suggest its injury rate is significantly lower than many other sports when adjusted for time spent playing. The study estimated that men’s football in the United States accounts for 47,199 annual injuries, the highest total among all sports analyzed. However, when injuries are normalized by participation hours, football ranks 13th out of 55 sports. This places it well below sports with substantially higher injury rates, such as MMA, which had the highest estimated rate at 114.4 injuries per 1,000 hours. Rugby Sevens followed at 71.6, and Rugby Union came in at 46.8. Other sports with elevated rates included karate, taekwondo, amateur boxing, motocross, judo, and novice running. Men’s NCAA wrestling, at 6.6 injuries per 1,000 hours, was among the lowest in the rankings. Football’s injury rate of 4.6 per 1,000 hours is less than half that of men’s NCAA wrestling and roughly a quarter of novice running’s rate. This discrepancy highlights the importance of considering participation volume when assessing risk. For example, while football’s raw injury count is far higher than sports like ice hockey or wrestling, its per-hour rate is comparatively lower. The study’s data underscores that football’s danger is not solely about the frequency of injuries but also the scale of its player base and the intensity of its physical demands.#nfl #damar_hamlin #davidoff_law #ruben_davidoff #mma
