Paul's Suggested Guide for Athletes Describing Injuries

I just caught Donovan McNabb on PTI, and the boys asked him about his knee. He said he was just "throwing out a number" when he said the other day that it was 75% and everyone in Philly went crazy. That got me thinking... One man's 75% might be another man's 50% and another man's 95%. It's not really a helpful way to describe how you're feeling...until now. I've devised a scale that I think athletes, teams, and media should use when discussing how an injury feels. And here it is:

100% - Don't feel it.
99% - Feel it only if I twist/bang/yoink it.
95% - feel it at the end of a workout
90% - feel it every once in a while during a workout
85% - Aches a while at the end of a workout
80% - Aches during the workout but doesn't really hold me back
75% - Still holding me back a little bit, but could play.
60% - Not ready to play, but I'm ahead of schedule, and the end is in sight
50% - I've made a lot of progress but I've still got a ways to go
40% - I'm behind schedule.
25% - This is going to take a while.
10% - Out for 6 weeks
5% - Out for Year
0% - Out for Career


Wouldn't that be extremely helpful? Alternatively, reporters could carry around a list like this and athletes could point to the description that best fits how they feel. It's genius!