Football Injury Rate- High School vs NFL

[Hookemhorns88]

After watching the Texas High School Playoff Games on TV I began to wonder what the player injury rate was in high school versus the NFL.  Just in observation and with no further research, it seemed that the stoppage for injuries in the multiple high school games were far less than that in the NFL and possibly even college.

is it because there are actually less injuries or do the younger kids just play through it since millions of dollars are not hinging on their health to make a living?  For clarification I am using the term "health to make a living" in respect to an injury that is not life altering.

Or am i just imaging the injury difference?

[mikehoncho]

9 hours ago, Hookemhorns88 said:

After watching the Texas High School Playoff Games on TV I began to wonder what the player injury rate was in high school versus the NFL.  Just in observation and with no further research, it seemed that the stoppage for injuries in the multiple high school games were far less than that in the NFL and possibly even college.

is it because there are actually less injuries or do the younger kids just play through it since millions of dollars are not hinging on their health to make a living?  For clarification I am using the term "health to make a living" in respect to an injury that is not life altering.

Or am i just imaging the injury difference?

I could be completely off base here... but being that in the NFL pretty much every player on the field is huge, fast and the most elite of athletes I would think that makes nearly every collision more violent and damaging than your typical high school collision/tackle/etc.  Also, the kids in high school are younger and have much less wear and tear on their bodies than NFL athletes who have been playing the game for a decade already.  

[Hookemhorns88]

2 minutes ago, mikehoncho said:

I could be completely off base here... but being that in the NFL pretty much every player on the field is huge, fast and the most elite of athletes I would think that makes nearly every collision more violent and damaging than your typical high school collision/tackle/etc.  Also, the kids in high school are younger and have much less wear and tear on their bodies than NFL athletes who have been playing the game for a decade already.  

I considered the physics of the collisions of the NFL players.  It goes both ways, the players are bigger and faster on both sides of the ball so that seems to somewhat cancel each other out.  Plus many injuries are independent of the size of the players.

To argue the mass point for high school players it would seem that the probability would be higher for injuries occurring in high school versus the NFL.  In high school you  have potential college level players playing against kids that will never play another down outside of HS.  In HS you have underclassmen playing against upperclassmen.  A huge amount of growth typically takes place between your freshman and senior years as teens hit growth spurts at different times.  In the NFL the players have all matured.

 

[DeKlabBeers]

3 hours ago, mikehoncho said:

I could be completely off base here... but being that in the NFL pretty much every player on the field is huge, fast and the most elite of athletes I would think that makes nearly every collision more violent and damaging than your typical high school collision/tackle/etc.  Also, the kids in high school are younger and have much less wear and tear on their bodies than NFL athletes who have been playing the game for a decade already.  

Please don't confuse people with facts. Facts are confusing. Just ask our current President.