Where is the Sport Science in American Football?

Abstract

Despite enormous revenue production and a recent trend of investment in sport medicine research, American football has yet to make a measurable investment in sport performance science research. As a result, available knowledge is presently skewed toward technical and tactical domains, with very little knowledge development occurring in other areas within the sport science realm. In this editorial, we discuss plausible contributing factors to the current situation, and suggest ways to resolve this issue and move forward for the betterment of the sport.

Keywords

• Quality assurance
• Coaching
• Performance research
• High performance model
• National Football League
• National Collegiate Athletic Association