Non-football injury and non-football illness (NFI) are roster designations used in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for players who are unable to practice as a result of conditions unrelated to football, or injuries that did not occur during NFL games or practices. They are similar to the

physically unable to perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

and

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

lists.

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. NFL teams are not required to pay base salaries to players placed on the reserve/non-football injury or reserve/non-football illness lists.

Notable examples

Willis McGahee Willis Andrew McGahee III (born October 21, 1981) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Miami, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of t ...

spent his entire rookie season on the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

' non-football injury list due to the major knee injury he sustained in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl while in college. Former

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

offensive tackle

Marcus Cannon Marcus Darell Cannon (born May 6, 1988) is an American football offensive tackle for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to the 2011 NFL Draft, Cannon was considered one of the top offensive tackle prospects a ...

began his rookie season on the non-football illness list as he recovered from

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

for

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

in 2011.

References

{{Reflist

Active/NFI

Reserve/NFI

Notable examples

References

See also