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Review
. 2018 Mar;11(1):6-11.
doi: 10.1007/s12178-018-9453-8.

Common Injuries in Professional Football Quarterbacks

Jacob M Kirsch  1 , M Tyrrell Burrus  1 , Asheesh Bedi  2
Affiliations
Review

Common Injuries in Professional Football Quarterbacks

Jacob M Kirsch et al. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Professional football quarterbacks are at particular risk for upper extremity injuries due to the physical demands of their position coupled with the inherent risks associated with professional football. This review sought to evaluate current clinical literature to better characterize the injury profile unique to this athletic population.

Recent findings: Shoulder injuries are the most prevented upper extremity injury among professional football quarterbacks. The quarterback position is disproportionately impacted by shoulder injuries when compared to professional athletes at other positions. Moreover, contrary to other professional throwing athletes, the majority of upper extremity injuries in the professional quarterback result from direct contact as opposed to the throwing motion. The injury profile among professional quarterbacks is unique compared to other positions and other overhead professional throwing athletes. Overall, a paucity of high quality clinical evidence exists to support the management of injuries in this elite population.

Keywords: Injuries; NFL; Professional football; Quarterback; Shoulder; Upper extremity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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