Andre Johnson and 5 Other Players Whose Injury Absence Most Harms NFL Brand

The NFL is perhaps the most brand-conscious sports league in the world.  In other leagues, injuries are just injuries, an unfortunate and unavoidable reality.  The NFL, however, views the loss of high profile players to injury as a threat to their revenue streams.  

When elite QB Tom Brady went down, rules were changed.  As evidence of concussions being a big problem became unavoidable, the league moved to remove the highlight reel, "Jacked Up" style hits from the game.  And they have succeeded for the most part, as flags fly on hits that were once praised as virtue.

The great irony in all of this is that most of the injuries to high profile players this season that really threaten fan interest have been totally unavoidable, almost random.  

Andre Johnson went down totally untouched.  Peyton Manning, one of the least-hit QBs in the league, suffered no acute injury. Jamaal Charles got hurt running out of bounds.

Perhaps it's time the NFL accepted these injuries as unavoidable, and stopped trying to control the beautiful chaos on the field.

Click through for some of the most problematic injuries this season for the NFL's brand.

Andre Johnson

Andre Johnson went down untouched today against the Steelers.  While there has been no word as to the extent of his injury, and it's too early to say how long he will be out, losing him would be a huge blow to the Texans and the league.  

Johnson is one of the elite receivers in the NFL, and this is a passing league. Besides, with Andre, Houston might resort to rushing the ball 50 times a game, and no one wants to see that.

Eric Berry

Eric Berry's injury, while it might not have the same buzz factor as some of the offensive players on this list, is troublesome for the league in a different way.  So much attention has been paid to restricting what defenders can do to hurt offensive players, Berry's might make them look at it in the other direction, specifically at chop blocks.  

If the goal is to protect players, or more specifically to protect their careers, perhaps letting blockers throw themselves at defenders knees in the open field is a bad idea. Just a thought.

Kenny Britt

Kenny Britt's injury rounds of the trio of AFC South stars lost for significant time this season.  Watch your knees  and neck, Maurice Jones-Drew, this curse could be coming for you next.  Britt is an elite receiver when he is healthy, but this is the second season in a row where his campaign has been derailed by injury.  

The future is bright for Britt, but it gets a little dimmer with each injury.  Britt is pretty funny in front of a microphone too, so the league and its fans are really missing out with Britt gone for the season due to a freak knee implosion.

Tony Romo

No, Romo isn't out for the season.  But anytime he spends on the injury report is bad for the league, as fans of the other 31 other teams get bombarded with non-stop Romo reporting.  

Never has a merely above average QB inspired such press coverage. Injuries also appear to be delaying the moment when we can all finally agree that Romo will never be an elite QB.  Get well soon Tony!

Michael Vick

With all that the NFL has invested into Michael Vick's redemption tour, it would be a real blow to the NFL's PR machine if Michael Vick were to continue to pick up new injuries every other week.  Mobile QBs like Vick may not be the most effective way to build an offense, but variety is the spice of life, and they sure do make it more interesting.  

Vick's inability to avoid getting banged up may serve as a deterrent for other team considering going with a dual threat QB.  It might even be a bigger deterrent than they already have from examining the historical success of that type of QB.

Peyton Manning

One of the NFL's most marketable players, Peyton Manning sits in an incredibly unfamiliar position—the coaching box.  The Colts have spent a decade betting the house on Peyton Manning, and this year they are finally having to deal with the ugly side of that bet.

Without Manning, the Colts are hopeless.  What's worse, this neck condition could very well threaten, shorten, or diminish to some extent the remainder of Manning's career.  Tom Brady was able to come back from his big injury. Let's hope for the sake of the game that Peyton can too.