Hello! I’m Karl McKenzie, and while this blog started with a focus on NFL injuries, the techniques and methods I discuss here are universally applicable across various sports. My professional journey spans from drafting my dissertation on NFL injuries to consulting for MLB, NBA, NFL teams, and NCAA Division I college programs.
About Me
Born into a sports-loving family, thanks to my dad who was a statistician for the Braves from 1982-1986, my passion for sports and statistics has deep roots. Today, I hold a PhD in epidemiology and serve as an Assistant Professor of Quantitative Theory and Methods at Oxford College of Emory University. My consulting work continues with an NFL team, and I am also a staff writer at Football Outsiders, specializing in sports injuries. My varied career has also included stints as a healthcare consultant and a journalist.
What exactly does an epidemiologist have to do with sports injuries? Simplifying it a bit, my main objectives are:
- To describe the distribution of diseases (like injuries) in specific populations (such as football players).
- To analyze why there are differences within these populations, such as variations by position, team, or year.
This blog will tackle these topics in various posts, promising to deliver on these objectives, or perhaps, intentionally decide to explore beyond them.
My journey into sports injuries began rather unexpectedly when an NFL team, knowing my healthcare background, assumed I had expertise in injuries. This assumption sparked my interest and led me to dive deep into the field. My dissertation explored NFL injuries, the impact of the 2012 collective bargaining agreement on these injuries, and attempted (though unsuccessfully) to create a predictive model for NFL injury risk.
As a sports fan with a solid background in statistics and a keen interest in injury studies, I found a unique niche that merges my passions and professional expertise.
About NFL Injury Analytics Blog
The aim of this blog is to present a rigorous yet accessible quantitative analysis of sports, particularly NFL injury data. With my background in journalism and academia, I strive to achieve a balance between informative and engaging content, achieving 1-2.5 of these goals in each post.
The content will range from my original research to commentary on others’ work and interesting injury data points. While I might occasionally deviate into general football analytics, the focus will primarily remain on injuries.
In each post, I’ll explain the statistics used and provide transparency about my methods and their limitations. I enjoy teaching epidemiology and statistics, and I promise to keep these sections both accessible and enjoyable, potentially teaching you something new as you browse.
Thanks for visiting, and I hope you find the insights shared here both useful and interesting!