Starting LB Chris Gocong’s season-ending and career-threatening Achilles injury is the latest example of one of the NFL’s primary defects: the outsized role of injuries.
The human toll in pain and disability is the primary consideration, and of course my sympathies lie with Gocong for impact the torn right Achilles tendon will have on his life and career.
As a fan, though, the prevalence of football injuries, their apparent randonmess, and the disproportionate effect they have on a team’s prospects combine to undercut the bases of competition that make the sport worth following. In other words, as injury attrition increases in frequency, impact, and/or unpredictability, more appealing factors like skill, strategy and teamwork diminish in importance.
In short, football becomes even more of a game of chance, undermining the rewards of merit.
More disturbing is that fans, aware of the inverse connection between injury and victory, have a psychological incentive to regard favorably the physical damage done to members of rival teams. This gladatorial impulse strikes a blow to the heart of sportsmanship.
The solution, if there is one, lies in risk management. NFL teams simply must put a primary emphasis on keeping their players healthy. This may seem obvious, but let’s look at a few specifics.
Achilles injuries are most often — as with Gocong’s — non-contact traumas that might be prevented with a more religious, controlled emphasis on stretching and warm-up. I can’t speak to the Browns’ diligence in this regard. But I do remember that punter Reggie Hodges lost last season with a similar injury. All-Pro LB Jamir Miller’s career was likewise ended in the 2002 preseason.
When last year’s lockout curtailed offseason workouts, it was reported that ten players suffered Achilles tears within the first two weeks of camp. Bengals CB Leon Hall and Raven LB Terrell Suggs are other recent victims.
These are not minor problems. This 2010 article reports on 31 Achilles ruptures in the NFL between 1997 and 2002. Only 21 of those players ever returned, and those who did were generally not as effective.
Obviously, I hope the 28-year-old Gocong bucks the odds. With a non-guaranteed base salary of $4.45 million in 2013 and $4.7 million in 2014, he has every reason to take rehab diligently. Whether the Browns will stick with him at that price is questionable at best.
Count on the Browns to draft linebackers early and often next year, though they may not have the luxury of waiting that long. Their thinnest position suddenly got drastically worse.
