Orthopedic surgeon James Andrews, MD, spoke to Sports Illustrated about the brutality in the NFL.
Here's what you need to know.
1. Dr. Andrews, a founding partner and the medical director of the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Fla., said despite football being his favorite sport, it wouldn't exist if invented today because of the high rate of injury.
2. He maintains that calling football a contact sport doesn't fully encapsulate the brutality of the sport.
"It's a collision sport," Dr. Andrews told Sports Illustrated. "If we started a new sport today and we wrote up the rules and regulations and we called it football, they probably wouldn’t allow it. We’re all trying to do everything we can to make football safer, but that’s the way the sport is. There are always going to be injuries. We’re aware of that, and we’re all working to keep it that way. (Physicians) want it to continue, believe me."
3. Dr. Andrews said he has trouble convincing coaches to attend injury prevention events.
More articles on orthopedic sports medicine:
OrthoAtlanta finds the endzone with its latest partnership, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: 4 things to know
AMA makes 'urgent' call for more research on CTE: 4 key notes
Northwestern Medicine buys rights to Kane County Cougars stadium: 3 things to know