Are shoulder injuries endemic to the University of Washington or are they a common occurrence with NCAA football teams? I've taken two snapshots in time to compare the number of UW shoulder injuries with those of other football teams in the NCAA, and the pictures are quite dissimilar.

 

I compared the numbers and types of injuries affecting 37 Division 1A football teams that occurred at one instant of time last season with the types and number of injuries affecting the status of UW football players going into the spring football game in April 2002. According to my two snapshots, the UW had more shoulder injuries affecting player status than the other 37 teams combined.

 

However, shoulder problems at the UW didn't end last season.

Tailback Rich Alexis, center Todd Bachert, linebacker Marquis Cooper, linebacker Tim Galloway, and tight end Joe Toledo all have had off-season shoulder surgeries that have absented them from spring practice.

Going into the spring game last season, the status of ten Huskies was questionable because of shoulder injuries: Marquis Cooper, Wilbur Hooks Jr., Owen Biddle, Roc Alexander, Greg Carothers, Ben Mahdavi, Todd Bachert, Cody Pickett, Rayshon Dukes, and Spencer Marona. Marona decided to forgo his senior season because of four shoulder surgeries. Except for Rayshon Dukes who was rehabbing a separated shoulder, nine of the players, including Marona, were recovering from shoulder surgery. 

 

At one time last season, according to a CBS Sportsline.com, 37 Division 1A football teams were affected by injuries severe enough to sideline players indefinitely or shelve them for the remainder of the season. A few of the players were on a day-to-day basis. On April 26 of last season, 18 Washington footballers had injuries severe enough to make their status questionable for the spring football game. Table 1 compares the injuries affecting the 37 teams with those affecting the UW in April of last year.

 

As shown by Table 1 below, knee injuries appear to be the most common  in football. Of the 37 teams, 69 players were sidelined by knee injuries (see column two), and they occurred almost 8 times more frequently than shoulder injuries. In April of 2002, the UW had twice the number of shoulder injuries affecting player status than it had knee injuries--which is at variance with our NCAA snapshot.

 

The inordinate number of UW shoulders injuries may have a simple explanation. "More than 70 percent of shoulder surgeries were on shoulders damaged prior to arrival (at the UW)," according to Coach Rick Neuheisel.

 

Table 1. CBS Sportsline.com snapshot of debilitating injuries in NCAA football affecting 37 different teams at one time last season compared with a UW injury report (April 26, 2002) that appeared on 4malamute.com. *

 

Injury	No. of players	UW players
Knee	69	5
Ankle	17	2
Leg	12
Shoulder	9	10
Back	7
Foot	6	1
Wrist	3
Concussions	3
Arm	2
Neck	2
Chest Muscles	2
Thumb	1
Biceps	1
Kidney Ailment	1
Face	1
Elbow	1
Spinal Cord	1
Hip	1

* This is not a scientific survey, just a snapshot of two instances of time. Any errors in this report are my own and should not be attributed to CBS Sportsline.com

Reference: CBS Sportsline.com