• Sandeep Mannava, Salvatore J Frangiamore, Colin P Murphy, Anthony Sanchez, George Sanchez, Grant J Dornan, James P Bradley, Robert F LaPrade, Peter J Millett, and Matthew T Provencher.
• Steadman Philippon Research Institute, Vail, Colorado, USA.
• Orthop J Sports Med. 2018 Jul 1; 6 (7): 2325967118783982.

BackgroundLabral tears confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are a relatively common injury among collegiate athletes and can influence a player's ability to compete at the professional level.PurposeTo determine the prevalence of MRI-confirmed shoulder labral injuries in collegiate football players entering the National Football League (NFL) Combine and to further describe these injuries by tear location, player position, history of surgical intervention, and associated concomitant shoulder injuries.Study DesignDescriptive epidemiology study.MethodsData from 2009 to 2015 were retrospectively collected through review of the injury data registry available to the medical and training staff of all NFL teams following the completion of the NFL Combine. After players with potential labral tears were identified through history and examination, their MRIs were reviewed by 2 fellowship-trained orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons. Players diagnosed with a labral tear confirmed by MRI were separated for further analysis.ResultsA total of 2285 players were analyzed for the presence of labral tears at the NFL Combine. Overall, 377 shoulders (in 340/2285 players; 14.9%) demonstrated MRI evidence of labral tear; whereas linebackers had the highest rate of labral tear (19.2%), linemen had significantly higher risk for labral injury in at least 1 shoulder (odds ratio, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.02-1.67; P = .029) compared with nonlinemen. Of the 377 shoulders analyzed, 115 (30.5%) exhibited an anterior labral tear, 131 (34.7%) had a posterior labral tear, and 131 (34.7%) had combined anterior and posterior tears. One hundred twenty (31.8%) shoulders had superior labral anterior-posterior (SLAP) tears. A total of 203 (53.8%) shoulders demonstrated evidence of previous surgical intervention on imaging.ConclusionInjury involving the labrum is relatively common among participants at the NFL Combine, especially linebackers and linemen. Further investigation is necessary to determine the impact these injuries have on player draft position and NFL performance.

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