The Voice of Lee Schwartz, father of two former NFL studs, Geoffrey and Mitchell Schwartz, author of Raising Giants and member of Concussion & CTE Foundation’s West Coast Advisory Board . . .
I first opined on this topic last season, believing that injuries were escalating. Fast forward to 2026. It’s putting last season to shame.
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I’ve watched college and professional football for some 60 years. I was in front of the tube viewing Monday Night Football in 1985 when New York Giants linebacker Lawrence (LT) Taylor sacked Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman, causing Theisman to gruesomely suffer a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula in his right leg. (The injury was later voted the NFL’s “Most Shocking Moment in History.”)
I was in the stands the night Mitchell’s Cal Bears’ running back teammate, attempting to elude a tackle, tried to hurdle an oncoming defender. Instead of clearing the tackler, he was propelled skyward and began spinning like a whirlybird. He crashed to the ground, sustaining a serious concussion. It was the first of many concussions for this rising star, a precursor to a career cut short because of multiple head traumas.
I was in the stands the evening Geoffrey horrifically dislocated his right big toe during a pre-season game when playing for the New York Giants. The severity of the injury was one the head team doctor had never seen before.
And I was sitting on my couch enjoying an NFL Thursday Night contest when a player received a crushing blow to his chest, causing him to go into cardiac arrest. He almost died on the field if not for the extraordinary attention provided by the teams’ medical personnel. (Postscript – Damar Hamlin survived and still finds himself on an NFL roster.)
Injuries have always been part of the game. Lord knows, I have personal experience. Outlined in my memoir Raising Giants – My Extraordinary Journey with TWO NFL Sons are the double-digit injuries suffered collectively by Geoffrey and Mitchell—back surgeries, broken legs, hip damage, knee injuries, etc., etc.—skewed heavily toward Geoffrey. (I once heard Geoffrey share that the only day a football player is healthy is the day before the first day of summer camp. Let that sink in.) So even someone like me comes to accept the reality of this game. But this year, I believe something is different.
One can’t watch a game (for this blog I’m focusing on the NFL) this season without observing multiple injuries. Guys hobbling off the field to those carted into the locker room. Players lying motionless on the turf, requiring a swarm of medical staff to come charging onto the field. And on and on. Last year seemed to be excessive. To me, this year there’s little doubt that injuries are on the rise. (For the purposes of this blog, I will concentrate on below the neck injuries. I have dealt with and will deal with concussions otherwise.)
I’m writing this blog after week five of the NFL season, however, two to three weeks earlier the trend was readily apparent to me. Eight QBs after week three were on the shelf, to miss games ranging from less than a handful to the entire season. According to my new best friend (ChatGPT 🤣), the last time eight signal callers were unavailable after the first three weeks was before the turn of the century. The injuries have been very wide ranging – torn ACL, oblique, pulled hamstring, a concussion, knee, glute, broken hand and dislocated elbow.
Now look at these examples that I believe confirm my suspicions.
- Heading into week 5 play, the L.A. Chargers were starting four rookie linemen, replacing injured starters. FOUR! That includes the two tackles, both of whom have earned Pro Bowl or All Pro recognition. In what world is that desirable?
Imagine having one key lineman out. But four! The Chargers’ Justin Herbert played like a QB with several rookies in front of him. Desperate. Antsy. Uncomfortable. Tried to make plays that he never would under normal conditions, leading to turnovers and L.A.’s fifth consecutive loss to begin the season.
- Entering week five, the Philadelphia Eagles found themselves missing 8 inactive/injured players—including 6 major starters/key contributors such as Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith. That’s on top of having future Hall of Famer Lane Johnson announce his retirement and lineman Cam Jurgens being traded.
But it only got worse. During the game four additional players experienced injuries that ruled them out of the game. And as I’m writing this blog word surfaced that QB Jalen Hurts is out indefinitely with a blood clot. Any wonder why the Eagles are struggling with a 2-3 record? (Some might suggest another reason but that’s for a different day.)
- After week five wrapped up, my “friend” shared the following injury information . . .
- 49ers experienced 24 injuries leading to 93 player-games missed
- Texans at 22 and 83
- Saints 29 and 81
- Patriots 26 and 68
ChatGPT in its last injury update (I’ve scheduled to be sent updates as new information becomes available) had this to offer . . .
- Injury-related incidents increased 5% during the first 47 games of 2026 compared with 2025
- The increase is not confined to players briefly leaving games for medical evaluations. Actual playing time lost to injuries is also unusually high.
- The evidence now supports the conclusion that 2026 has experienced a historically injury-heavy start, at least relative to the previous five seasons.
So the question that comes to my mind is . . . Why? Here are some explanations being offered:
- Playing surfaces – Field-turf vs. natural grass. The former much less forgiving than the latter.
- Scheduling – Does a 17th regular season game matter that much?
- Pre-NFL careers – Too much football played before entering the NFL. Is there a shelf life?
All reasonable, for sure. But I have a couple of theories:
- Mother Nature
- The human skeleton has not changed over the millennia. We still have 24 ribs as our ancestors did. We still have 26 vertebrae. Our knees are still held together by the same tendons and ligaments as those who came before us.
- But never until recent times has the human skeleton had to support the weight and muscularity of today’s football athletes. My conjecture is that injuries, especially to soft tissues, are occurring more frequently because the human body simply cannot withstand the stresses and strains caused by the extra weight, extra muscles, extra forces being exerted on our bones, ligaments, tendons, tissues, etc.
- Imagine the larger human specimens physically colliding with each other and the forces being exerted on each other.
- Bodies Overworked
- Back in the day . . . the “day” being several decades ago . . . professional football players had a much more defined season. They reported to camp—with much less preparation than today—played the regular season . . . in the ‘60s and most of the ‘70s it was 14 games . . . and then for the few teams that qualified for post-season activity playing one, two, at most three extra games. And that was it. Little to no off-season workouts. Stories abound about NFLers taking secondary jobs during the off-season to make ends meet.
- “Off-season” is the critical term here because in today’s world off-season for many players just doesn’t exist. As an extreme example, it’s been reported that James Harrison, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, gave himself maybe a week off after concluding one season to begin workouts for the next. It’s rather standard practice these days for players to spend most of the months between end of season and August working out to some degree to prepare for the next season.
- So, tell me, when does the body have a chance to rest and recover? Surely training regiments have improved over the years with players investing robust amounts of money to hopefully account for recovery time, but to this greenhorn, I would believe that the body needs far more recuperation time than it’s given in today’s world.
- Bottom line, the body is just worn out.
Admittedly I have no medical background or training, so I’ve begun consulting with physicians to gauge their thoughts on my theories. They say I may be onto something.
Let’s circle back to my question in the blog’s title. Are all these injuries adversely affecting the game of football? To me, it’s a resounding yes. Particularly in the NFL, second stringers—much less rookies who have never seen a snap—are second stringers for a reason. The NFL just doesn’t possess the talent depth to constantly overcome these injuries. Simply subtraction by addition, i.e., the more injuries the less talent on the field.
Last year, injuries hit so hard that replacements had to be recruited.
- Being described as the “Geritol Gunslinger,” eight-time Pro Bowl QB Philip Rivers signed a practice squad contract to join the Indianapolis Colts. He last spun the pigskin in 2020.
- Jason Pierre-Paul, one of the most fearsome defensive ends in NFL history, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad at age 36. He last caused havoc on the field in 2023.
I’ve heard so often when listening to football game commentators the mantra offered by coaches when injuries occur – “Next man up!” Sure, there will always be another body to run onto the gridiron, but at what cost to the quality of the game? (As a quick aside, to accentuate this approach, let me share what Geoffrey has described to me and offered on his radio shows. If a player is injured during practice such that medical attention is required on the field, practice isn’t halted. Any drills/scrimmages underway are just moved to another section of the field and “business as usual.”)
I have for decades loved sitting in front of the tube/being in the stands to watch the gladiators of football. These days it’s becoming harder and harder as player after player goes down and then, as a result, the quality of performance on the gridiron craters because prime-time players are nowhere to be found.
Has a tipping point been reached? I, for one, firmly believe so . . . or we’re right at the precipice of it being so. I would expect to see injuries continue to increase in the coming years.
If you’d like to jump in with your thoughts, hit me up on social media (X – @LeeMSchwartz, IG – @leemschwartz or FB – Lee Schwartz) or at lee@raisinggiantsbook.com.
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Postscript – While “penning” this blog, I had a college football game on in the background. Ohio State (OSU) vs. Indiana. I see the OSU QB being escorted off the field, dragging his throwing arm. A bit later he returns to the field, still wearing his uni and pads but with his throwing arm in a sling. He’s out for several weeks with a shoulder injury.
That reminded me of the Oregon Ducks losing their starting QB to what appeared to be a significant concussion. Today will be the second game he’s missed. And then there’s UCLA’s QB, who suffered a season ending knee injury a week ago.
Obviously the injury curse is not limited to the NFL. A media personality that I follow closely and trust, during an X exchange which occurred after the OSU QB went down, offered this about backup college QBs, “I think most programs are screwed in the long run if their starting QB is out for a while.”
Need I say more?