Top 10 Most Bizarre Sports Injuries of All Time
Professional athletes are the most physically prepared people on the planet. Decades of training, nutritionists, physios, and millions of dollars invested in keeping their bodies in perfect condition. And then one of them throws his back out picking up a cracker. These are the ten most bizarre sports injuries in history.
#10 – Lionel Simmons injures his wrist playing Game Boy (1991)
NBA forward Lionel Simmons was having a strong rookie season with the Sacramento Kings when he missed two games with tendinitis in his right wrist. The cause was not a heavy training session or a collision on court. He had been playing too much Game Boy on road trips. This was 1991, so the game was almost certainly Tetris. Simmons went on to have a solid career but this remains his most famous contribution to sports history.
#9 – Sammy Sosa misses games after sneezing (2004)
Sammy Sosa hit 609 home runs in his career. He was one of the most powerful baseball players who ever lived. In 2004 he sneezed so violently that he spasmed his back and missed two games. The Chicago Cubs placed him on the disabled list. His manager had to explain to reporters with a straight face that one of their best players was out because he sneezed. To his credit, Sosa handled it with good humour. His back presumably did not.
#8 – Santiago Canizares misses the 2002 World Cup after dropping aftershave (2002)
The Spanish goalkeeper was considered one of the best in Europe heading into the 2002 World Cup. Days before the tournament he dropped a bottle of aftershave on his foot in the bathroom. The bottle shattered, severing a tendon in his big toe. He missed the entire tournament. Spain reached the quarter-finals without him. The aftershave brand was never named publicly, which feels like a missed marketing opportunity.
#7 – Dustin Penner injures his back eating pancakes (2012)
Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Penner sat down for breakfast before a game and leaned forward to cut into the pancakes his wife had made. His back seized up completely. He drove to the rink for treatment and missed one game. His teammates were merciless about it. When he returned and recorded an assist, they joked the pancakes had given him strength. Penner took it well. The pancakes were reportedly excellent.
#6 – Joel Zumaya misses the ALCS playing Guitar Hero (2006)
Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya was one of the most exciting young arms in baseball when he developed wrist inflammation during the 2006 American League Championship Series. The team initially stayed quiet about the cause. It later emerged that Zumaya had been playing Guitar Hero for hours on end and effectively repetitive-strained his pitching wrist on a plastic controller. He came back in time for the World Series. The Tigers lost. Guitar Hero did not appear to be at fault for that. If you fancy injuring yourself the same way, here’s the controller.
#5 – Glenn Healy lacerates his hand on bagpipes (2000)
NHL goaltender Glenn Healy was a backup for the Toronto Maple Leafs with plenty of spare time on his hands. He filled it by playing the bagpipes. During the offseason his bagpipes exploded, opening a serious gash in his left hand. This sentence is completely true. Healy required stitches and was lucky the injury did not affect his season. He remains, as far as anyone can tell, the only professional athlete ever injured by exploding bagpipes.
#4 – Gus Frerotte headbutts a wall celebrating a touchdown (1997)
Washington Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte scored a rushing touchdown and celebrated by headbutting the padded wall at the back of the end zone. The padding was not as generous as he had assumed. He gave himself a concussion and had to leave the game. His team was winning at the time. They lost. Frerotte continued his career and by all accounts became considerably more careful about which surfaces he chose to headbutt.
#3 – Brent Sopel misses a playoff game picking up a cracker (2007)
Vancouver Canucks defenseman Brent Sopel was preparing for a playoff game in 2007 when he bent down to pick up a cracker that had fallen on the floor. His back locked up immediately. He was ruled out of the lineup. The Canucks were eliminated in the first round. Whether the cracker was in any way responsible for this outcome is a matter of debate. What is not debatable is that a professional hockey player was felled by a fallen snack.
#2 – Alex Stepney dislocates his jaw shouting at defenders (1975)
Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney was not having a good game. He expressed his frustration at his defenders in the traditional manner, by yelling at them from his goal. He yelled so hard that he dislocated his own jaw. He had to be substituted. United’s defenders presumably felt a complicated mixture of guilt and satisfaction. Stepney had played in the 1968 European Cup winning side. Nothing in that game was as memorable as this.
#1 – Bill Gramatica tears his ACL celebrating a field goal (2001)
Arizona Cardinals kicker Bill Gramatica hit a field goal in the first quarter of a regular season game. Overcome with excitement, he jumped up and down in celebration. On the way down he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and his season was over. He had not been tackled. He had not collided with anyone. He had simply celebrated kicking a ball through some posts with such enthusiasm that he destroyed his own knee. It is the perfect sports injury, a complete story in one single moment.
Further Reading:
- The Ultimate Sports Trivia Book – Fascinating stories, amazing trivia and fun facts for sports lovers
- Guitar Hero Wireless Controller – Use at your own risk
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