Last semester I put together a top ten list for my weekly radio show that turned out to be a pretty big hit with my listener(s).
What I did was painstakingly search YouTube for what I thought to be the most gruesome sports injuries of all time, and then I shared these videos on-air with my co-host, Casey Wieder. Even though the listeners couldn’t see the graphic videos, it made for radio gold to hear the commentary and Casey’s reactions. If you weren’t one of our very few listeners that night in Ottawa, Kansas, you missed a great segment. I’ll give my readers a chance to revisit this top 10 list but let me warn you, all of these videos are extremely graphic.
10. Patrick Edwards – The University of Houston receiver suffered a compound fracture in his leg after running full speed through the end zone and colliding with a cart.
9. Sid Vicious – The former WCW champion attempted a high-risk-maneuver from the second turnbuckle on January 14, 2001 against Steiner. Vicious landed awkwardly on one leg causing him to fracture both his tibia and fibia. Thankfully we can’t see inside his boot, and nobody watched the WCW in 2001.
8. Eric Foster – The most recent of my top ten happened on Monday Night Football on October 3, 2011 between the Colts and Bucs. Late in the first half, Foster’s teammate Tyler Brayton rolled over Foster’s ankle causing it to graphically twist in the wrong direction. This dislocated Foster’s ankle forcing him to miss the rest of the season. There wasn’t much worth playing for anyway.
7. Willis McGahee – We all saw this one live during the 2003 National Championship Game between Miami and Ohio State. In the fourth quarter, McGahee caught a screen-pass and was hit immediately bending McGahee’s knee backwards tearing his ACL, PCL and MCL.
6. Shaun Livingston – On February 26, 2007, the former 4th overall pick missed a layup and awkwardly landed, dislocating his kneecap and caused his left leg to snap laterally. Livingston tore up just about every part of his knee, the ACL, PCL, lateral meniscus, spraining his MCL and dislocating his patella and tibia-femoral joint. Doctors allowed Livingston to return to basketball on June 16, 2008. Since then he has played for Miami, Oklahoma City, Washington and Charlotte but has not lived up to the potential he had before the injury.
5. Djibril Cisse – In a match against Blackburn Rovers on October 30, 2004, the former Liverpool striker challenged Blackburn’s Jay McEveley for a loose ball, Cisse’s shoe got caught in the grass and his leg snapped. The result was a broken tibia and fibula.
4. Tyrone Prothro – In a 31-3 win over the Florida Gators on October 1, 2005, the Alabama receiver suffered a complete fracture of his tibia and fibia in his lower left leg. After three surgeries and intense rehabilitation, coach Nick Saban said there was no way Prothro could ever play again. This is our first career-ender on my list.
3. Joe Theismann – On November 18, 1985, Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor sacked Theismann after a failed attempt at a flea flicker. Taylor broke just about every bone in Joe Theismann’s leg and forced him to retire from football and go into broadcasting. If Sandra Bullock would’ve been at the game, this would have never happened.
2. Clint Malarchuk – This is by far the most life threatening injury on my list. On March 22, 1989, Malarchuk caught a skate to the throat by Blue’s defenseman Uwe Krupp. Malarchuk was within moments of dying but his life was saved by trainer Jim Pizzutelli. Pizzutelli reached in Malarchuk’s neck and pinched off the bleeding. Malarchuk returned to the ice in the playoffs that season against Boston but was bounced in the first round. Malarchuk’s performance declined over the next few years and was out of the NHL in 1992.
1. Napoleon McCallum – My top 3 injuries were all in discussion to be my number one, however this one in my opinion takes the cake. On September 5, 1994 the Raiders fullback Napoleon McCallum’s cleat got stuck in the ground while being tackled by 49ers linebacker Ken Norton Jr. McCallum’s career came to an end that night after suffering a complete hyperextension of the left knee, ruptured artery in his left knee, tore his ACL, MCL and PCL, tore the calf and hamstring from the bone, and suffered nerve damage to the knee. Dan Dierdorf says it best in this video, “Don’t look at this if you don’t want to see it.”
Cinco De Mino.com 