Danny Amendola: Injury "prone"?

[Beastified]

I love Danny Amendola... Ahh... I'm not exactly sure how to explain how I feel about his injury history.

I feel like he tries to play like a guy that's bigger than he actually is. I see him try to make these diving catches and he's 5 feet airbourne in the air with his body fully extended, and then he hits the ground. He puts his heart into every play. He does things that his body isn't really capable of withstanding, like those diving catches. He's awesome, but I feel like his injuries are a result of him trying to do too much.

[berg8309]

True, but irrelevant.

HUb is not talking about a player, like Danario Alexander, who clearly is playing on a knee that will never be fully healed, and is therefore more likely to cause him trouble.

He's talking about a guy like Danny Amendola, who had three injuries to three different part of his body, all of which are reportedly fully healed. To call a player like that "injury prone" because he has been injured on multiple occasions is simply not an fair characterization (again, unless you possess the type of medical records I described in my obviously sarcastic post above).

Well, as I said before, I consider players who can't stay healthy, even if all the injuries are unrelated, injury prone. Certainly Danny has been injury prone the last two seasons. I don't think it's unfair to question his ability to stay healthy until he plays a full season again. I certainly hope he does, and I hope it's for the Rams.

[Curly Horns]

I'd have to agree with Rambos in that there is definately a trend.

In the poll that AV put up over 50% thought that DA is reckless. I think he is reckless.

Reckless is a behavior and the injuries are highly likely to be related to that behavior. Most injuries and accidents of any type are the result of some form of adverse behavior. Behavior based safety programs have been developed to help mitigate workplace injuries.

Couple a reckless behavior with an injury trend and put that in the volatile NFL environment and I believe there will be a proneness to more injuries.

Now there is still a probability that he will never be injured again. So I guess for management it's just a matter of how much money they want to put down on it. Personally I don't think it's a great bet.

[HUbison]

I disagree. You need to read my post more closely. His injury history could easily be a result of his playstyle. It is something teams will investigate fully.

No, I read your post just fine. I understand what you're saying. But this is the NFL. The only style of play that doesn't lead to injuries is the style of play that doesn't get off the practice squad.

The kid plays with heart. It's a huge leap to call that reckless. Diving for catches, reaching for balls, extending plays.......that's what's expected of every WR in this league. Are you telling me we want to draft a receiver who is unwilling to do those things?

[swatter555]

DeMarco Farr on the Fast Lane said something last week that I think is appropriate to your thoughts. He said that most NFL players want to go out every single play and give it everything, but you have to balance that with the desire to play a long career.

Perhaps, and its just one possibility, Danny isn't physically meant to do what he is doing. Playing with reckless abandon in the NFL isn't for everyone, especially for smaller WRs that want to run patterns over the middle on 3rd down.

I have seen Danny try and get extra yards in many situations where the yards simply were not there. He usually takes a big hit and sometimes coughs up the ball as a result. At other times he will completely lay out to catch a pass, one that really is thrown poorly, and he hits the turf hard.

In my opinion, the way he plays makes him more prone to injury. I am not saying it is right or wrong, just stating how I see it. The thread is about whether he is injury prone and I think I have stated a decent case that says he might be.

[berg8309]

No, I read your post just fine. I understand what you're saying. But this is the NFL. The only style of play that doesn't lead to injuries is the style of play that doesn't get off the practice squad.

The kid plays with heart. It's a huge leap to call that reckless. Diving for catches, reaching for balls, extending plays.......that's what's expected of every WR in this league. Are you telling me we want to draft a receiver who is unwilling to do those things?

Yep! Come on back Bennett! Your services are needed!

[HUbison]

DeMarco Farr on the Fast Lane said something last week that I think is appropriate to your thoughts. He said that most NFL players want to go out every single play and give it everything, but you have to balance that with the desire to play a long career.

Perhaps, and its just one possibility, Danny isn't physically meant to do what he is doing. Playing with reckless abandon in the NFL isn't for everyone, especially for smaller WRs that want to run patterns over the middle on 3rd down.

I have seen Danny try and get extra yards in many situations where the yards simply were not there. He usually takes a big hit and sometimes coughs up the ball as a result. At other times he will completely lay out to catch a pass, one that really is thrown poorly, and he hits the turf hard.

In my opinion, the way he plays makes him more prone to injury. I am not saying it is right or wrong, just stating how I see it. The thread is about whether he is injury prone and I think I have stated a decent case that says he might be.

I hear what you're saying, and you make a valid point. But Amendola played 43 games in college. I assume Danny was still Danny at that point, and he managed to not get hurt in those 4 years. Danny spent his first two years here injury free as well. That clavicle injury was bad, and unfortunately happened very early in the season. Therefore, his games missed was huge. Had the injury occurred late in the season, we wouldn't even be talking about the game or two that he missed (then recovered in the offseason).

Danny had 3 bad breaks (1 literal break) that just happend to occur over 15 month span. Yes, he plays all out, and I see your (and Farr's) point. But I would hate to see Amendola find that balance elsewhere and put up 90 catches for 900 yards on another team.

[MauiRam]

Every time I hear that Amendola is "injury prone", it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. The silliness of that statement just crawls all over me. It's simple (or maybe simplistic) to look at his games missed over the past two years, and pull out the "injury prone" rubber stamp. But can anybody honestly say that these injuries are indicative of his future?

He may be the unluckiest player on the roster. But "injury prone"? That's just silly.

Can anyone really define "injury prone"?

[HUbison]

Can anyone really define "injury prone"?

If it can't be defined, then applying it is meaningless; nonsensical even.

[MauiRam]

If it can't be defined, then applying it is meaningless; nonsensical even.

Someone mentioned the other "DA" the one with the multiple surgeries to his knee. His knee being more or less devoid of cartilage, would seem to have higher odds of being re-injured than a player with healthy knees. So Denario's knee could be considered "injury prone."

Danny on the other hand has healed from his various dings, and thus should have a clean slate. Perception is the key here, and he is the recipient of guilt through association - association with the injuries he has sustained to date. Bottom line: The Rams want to sign Danny as affordably they can and are leveraging him with whatever ammo they can muster (i.e. injuries). Danny is going to counter with whatever other teams offer him. It is just business.

I hope Amendola and the Rams can find common ground allowing Danny to resume his career here. For those clamoring for Tavon Austin - I'l admit he's an intriguing prospect, but to assume he will be a star at the next level - particularly right off the bat is a huge leap of faith IMO. Conversely, Danny has proven to be very productive at the NFL level, and has earned Sam's trust completely. It will be interesting to see how this all ends up. Either way, I expect a good draft, and an improved Rams team to take the field come September ..

[Vinnie25]

If a player is prone to get injured, then I consider him "injury prone". I hate to say it, but DA is injury prone. He has missed significant chunks of the last two years, and even when he did play he was far less than 100%. Regardless if his injuries are the result of his size or his playing style, the man just can't stay healthy, thus he is injury prone.

[HUbison]

The Rams want to sign Danny as affordably they can and are leveraging him with whatever ammo they can muster (i.e. injuries). Danny is going to counter with whatever other teams offer him. It is just business.

Now that, Maui, I absolutely agree with. Snead is going to emphasize every injury that has ever kept Amendola out of a game. Snead is smart enough to know that none of those injuries are indicative of future performance. Snead is also smart enough to know that anyone using the term "injury prone" in relation to Danny Amendola is in a foolish position reserved for the flat earth society. But Snead is also smart enough to use whatever leverage that (as you said) perception will allow in this business transaction.

[swatter555]

"Snead is smart enough to know that none of those injuries are indicative of future performance. Snead is also smart enough to know that anyone using the term "injury prone" in relation to Danny Amendola is in a foolish position reserved for the flat earth society."

Thats a total cop-out. Instead of using what Snead might be thinking as a cover to insult people who disagree with you, man up and insult me outright.

Ill do you the same courtesy: Its fine you don't think Danny is injury prone, and it might be true. Just don't act like an idiot and pretend to know the "truth" of the matter, when in reality you have an opinion just like everyone else.

[AvengerRam]

If a player is prone to get injured, then I consider him "injury prone".

Um... yeah... and the answer to the riddle, "what's big and red and eats rocks" is "a big red rock eater."

[AvengerRam]

Here's the heart of the problem: there are too many people who don't understand the difference between statistical dependence and independence.

To illustrate these concepts, consider an MP3 player that has a "shuffle feature," which plays the songs in a random order. Assume further that the player has 10 songs loaded in its memory. If the "shuffle feature" makes each song selection without regard to which songs were played previously, then there is always a 1/10 chance that any particular song will be played. That is an example of statistical independence. The outcome of each selection is independent of the next selection and, consequently, no outcome impacts future events.

Conversely, assume the MP3 player is programed to play a song, and then remove that song from the next song list until all 10 songs have been played (this is, for example, how the IPod's shuffle feature works, so it guarantees that you won't hear the same song played twice in a row). This is an example of statistical dependence - each outcome impacts the next selection. Thus, if the MP3 player has 10 songs, there is a 1/10 chance of any particular song being played first, and then a 1/9 chance of the one of the remaining songs being played next, etc.

This concept can be applied to football injuries. Some injuries are of a type that never fully heal and, consequently, increase the likelihood of additional injuries. In those cases, past and future injuries have a relationship of statistical dependence.

However, as far as we know, Danny Amendola's injuries have fully healed. If this is correct, than his past injuries do not make him any more likely to suffer future injuries - statistical independence.

Put in the most simple terms possible... take out a coin. Designate "heads" as "injury" and "tails" as "no injury." Now flip it 3 times. If it came up "heads" all three times, what is the likelihood that it will come up "heads" again on the fourth flip.

If your answer is 1/2, then you understand the concept.