ACL Injuries in the NFL & Other Stats

I was curious to know how many notable NFL players have had ACL injuries and recovered. I did a quick Google scan and this is what I found.

It's quite interesting to see that recent medical advancements have certainly improved players' chances of returning to the field and being successful.

I've highlighted the success stories (in bold).

• Edgerrin James - RB
• Jamal Lewis - RB
• Willis McGahee - RB
• Deuce McAllister - RB
• Dominic Rhodes - RB
• Terrell Davis - RB
• Correll Buckhalter - RB
  
• Frank Gore - RB
• Jamal Anderson - RB
• Kijana Carter - RB
• Greg Jones - RB
• Jerry Rice - WR
• Brian Finneran - WR
• Lee Evans - WR
• Tyrone Calico - WR
• Braylon Edwards - WR
  
• Daunte Culpepper - QB
• Brian Griese - QB
• Carson Palmer - QB
• Antonio Cromartie - CB
• Roman Harper - S
• Kailee Wong - LB
• Will Demps - S
  

I asked my physical therapist about how an ACL injury might affect your speed. Theoretically, it shouldn't because it's your quad, hamstring, and calf muscle fibers which determine speed but she does think it may marginally affect the natural knee joint motion. I'll have to bring up this point with my surgeon Dr. Green next week.

Other Stats:

• Grass and turf had equal rates of ACL injuries
• ACL injuries accounted for 2% of all injuries
• 66% of injuries occurred in games
• RBs have the highest risk of injury
• 81% of team physicians said the ideal return to play time is 6-9 months post surgery
• Nearly 100% of NFL athletes were able to return to competition after surgery

Source: Bradley, Sekiya, Kaplan. A Summary of ACL Injuries in the NFL, 2001.