NFL Season Impacted By Injuries and Suspensions

As many fans of the National Football League know, football can be one of the most dangerous sports out there. Just about every day, you hear about a player suffering an injury. With everything from concussions, to ACL tears, to broken bones, and even ruptured disks, there are almost too many to name.

For some reason, the 2015-16 season seems to be a lot more injury prone – even if it’s the smallest injuries. To some hardcore NFL followers, who also play the Madden NFL video game series, might believe these injuries come following the “Madden Curse.” The curse is said to be a string of bad luck for the player who gets voted to be on the cover of the newest edition; he either gets hurt the next year, or has an awful season statistic wise.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back, Troy Polamalu suffered the curse in 2012 when he tore his right calf in the preseason. In 2011, New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, was able to get the cover vote and avoid the unwanted curse. However, you could consider this year a semi-Madden curse, since he hasn’t been able to play well due to an injury.

For 2012, former Cleveland Browns running back, Peyton Hillis, had an unusual curse. He didn’t get seriously injured, but his career has gone downhill since 2012. Hillis had a hamstring strain in 2011, and since 2012 has had less than 500 yards rushing each season. He is currently a free agent.

In 2013, Detroit Lions wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, avoided all curses after his cover win. He is one of the lucky few. He stayed consistent throughout the next years.

2014 was unusual. Madden decided to name this year, Madden 25, for their twenty-fifth anniversary of the game. For the “old school” athlete, they had Barry Sanders. The “new school” featured Minnesota Vikings running back, Adrian Peterson. Peterson was suspended for the entire 2014 season after the first game.

However, many injuries don’t happen because of the “evil” Madden Curse. The most common cause of  injury can be a series of unusual events like being tackled incorrectly, landing wrong after jumping, hitting the ground too hard, etc.

Numerous star players have been injured, and are out for the rest of the season, including Jordy Nelson (Green Bay WR), Jamaal Charles (Kansas City RB), Terrell Suggs (Baltimore LB), and Shaun Suisham (Pittsburgh K).

This season has brought many worries, and doubting thoughts to a successful season to both football fans, coaches, and even the fantasy football fanatics.

For the fantasy side, Charles was one of the top RBs in the fantasy football projections for the season. He was ranked in the top ten running backs but is done for the season with a torn ACL. Nelson (ACL Tear), and Suisham (Torn ACL) were never projected since they were injured during the preseason. Suggs was part of the seventeenth-ranked Ravens D/ST, before suffering an achilles tendon tear.

A minor injury was the broken clavicle sustained by Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo – he’s projected to be back in mid-November, after “aggressive rehabbing.” Another was a right shoulder injury to Andrew Luck, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback – he planned to return against the Patriots.

What does this mean for the NFL? Injury lawsuits aren’t a thing of the past, as there have been many concussion lawsuits, due to illegal hits, etc. It also means it could give chances for other teams to shine, when they face teams with injured star players.

Suspensions also happen to be a big deal in the NFL. Everyone knows about Tom Brady and deflategate. Obviously, that suspension was appealed, and he’s now playing with regulation sized footballs – but we don’t talk about that.

Cleveland Browns WR, Josh Gordon is suspended with no projected return. Sheldon Richardson, DL for the New York Jets is suspended, and is projected to come back Week 6. DL Dion Jordan of the Miami Dolphins is also suspended, but for the entire season.

The NFL is in for an exciting second half of the season with injuries upon injuries, and those few suspensions. The Super Bowl, and Pro Bowl should be very interesting – and we’ll be watching anxiously to see what injuries and suspensions occur next!