Non-football injury and illness
Non-football injury and non-football illness (NFI) are roster designations used in the
Active/NFI
Players who report to training camp injured or ill due to injuries or illnesses sustained outside of NFL practices or games can be placed on the active/non-football injury or active/non-football illness lists while they recover. A player cannot remain on an NFI list if they participate in a practice or game during the preseason. Players on these lists still count towards the 90-man roster limits prior to the start of the regular season. If a player on the active/NFI list is still injured or ill by the final roster cutdown date, they can be placed on the reserve/non-football injury or reserve/non-football illness lists and not count towards the 53-man roster limit.
Reserve/NFI
Players on the reserve/non-football injury or reserve/non-football illness lists are ineligible to practice or play in games for the first six weeks of the regular season. After six weeks, a player can begin practicing with their team but cannot be moved to the active roster until after the team has played its first eight games of the season. When a player starts practicing, a three-week window begins in which the player can be moved to the active roster. If a player does not get activated after the three-week window ends, they must remain on the reserve/NFI list for the rest of the season. Only up to two players from the NFI lists are eligible to return to the active roster for each NFL team.[1] NFL teams are not required to pay base salaries to players placed on the reserve/non-football injury or reserve/non-football illness lists.[2]
Notable examples
Willis McGahee spent his entire rookie season on the Buffalo Bills' non-football injury list due to the major knee injury he sustained in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl while in college.[3] Former New England Patriots offensive tackle Marcus Cannon began his rookie season on the non-football illness list as he recovered from chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011.[4]
References
- ^ "2018 Bylaw Proposal No. 9" (PDF). NFLCommunications.com. 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ Bonesteel, Matt (July 29, 2016). "What does it mean when an NFL player is sent to the PUP list?". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ "McGahee put on non-football injury list". ESPN.com. August 26, 2003. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ Florio, Mike (November 15, 2011). "Marcus Cannon added to Patriots' active roster". NBCSports.com. Retrieved September 26, 2019.