PFATS Information

History of PFATS

The beginnings of the Professional Football Athletic trainers Society (PFATS) can be traced back to the early 1960s when a small group of athletic trainers working in the NFL saw an opportunity to share knowledge and techniques on injury prevention and rehabilitation.

Back then, a group of certified athletic trainers at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium, gathered to discuss health care issues specific to the NFL.

That small group grew each year and eventually became officially known as the "National Football League Athletic Trainers Society."

Shortly thereafter, athletic trainers from the American Football League joined the sessions and team physicians and a league official soon followed. By 1970, then NFL Commissioner Peter Rozelle required all teams to send their head athletic trainers to the annual NFL trainer’s meeting. In 1982, the group changed its name to the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society and created its own constitution and by-laws.

Today, there are 100 PFATS members who meet the membership criteria of being:

• Professionally certified by the NATA.
• Employed full-time (year round) as either a head or assistant athletic trainer by any of the 32 NFL franchises, in accordance with the most current NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement.

PFATS Mission Statement

The Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS) is a professional association whose members are the athletic trainers of the National Football League.

We provide, lead and manage health care for NFL athletes, club employees and members of the NFL community. We are dedicated to insuring that the highest quality health care is practiced in the NFL.

We are dedicated to the common good of our members. We are committed to the promotion and advancement of our profession through experienced leadership, continuing education and research.

PFATS is guided by the professional integrity and ethical standards of our members and the unity we share.

PFATS Cares To Make A Difference.

Objectives of PFATS

The objectives of PFATS are to:

• Encourage and promote consistent application of the most advanced knowledge and techniques of the athletic training profession in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries to professional football players.

• Serve as a professional association to promote the welfare of our members, and provide the exchange of ideas, techniques and scientific data relating to the care of football related injuries.

• Support the advancement of the athletic training profession.