When players suffer ACL injuries in the NFL, we as fans almost become numb to it. Despite strides made in sports medicine and preventative measures, ACL injuries continue to plague the NFL, resulting in extended periods of missed game time and even whole seasons for affected players.
With the high-speed, physically demanding nature of football, the likelihood of ACL injuries occurring is relatively high. Nevertheless, teams and players alike are striving to mitigate the likelihood and severity of such injuries.
The Minnesota Vikings have been one of the luckier teams in the NFL when it comes to ACL injuries. On Tuesday, the ACL Recovery Club on Twitter shared every ACL documented by the NFL since 2013. During that span, the Vikings only had 12, which is tied for the seventh-fewest in the NFL.
Here is the list of every torn ACL documented in the NFL by team since 2013 👇 pic.twitter.com/AXem1d9sqb
— ACL Recovery Club (@ACLrecoveryCLUB) February 21, 2023
Sometimes ACL injuries are unavoidable, but just last season the NFLPA came out and demanded that the NFL bans slit field turfs.
“The slit film playing surface has statistically higher in-game injury rates compared to all other surfaces for each of the following:
- Non-contact injuries
- Missed time injuries
- Lower extremity injuries
- Foot and ankle injuries”
The Vikings are one of seven teams with slit-field turf in their stadium. The others are the New York Giants, New York Jets, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals.
While the NFLPA is still pushing to change these fields, the NFL has yet to commit to change. Meanwhile, the Vikings better hope that they continue to stay lucky on what is truly a risky field for their players.
