Worst on-field injury you've ever seen ...

[gary-us-bonds]

I don't know if I bring bad luck or what, but I have seen Lifeflight helicopters come and land on football fields during games that I was watching at least 5 or 6 times.  I don't really recall any of the injuries being all that gruesome per se.  I think most of them were precautionary measures.

[BigWolf10]

The worst I've seen happened Sunday. The Buffalo tightend. In the 70's the Jack Tatum hit on Singleton, and so on......... Those are the worst to me. Them bones heal. Spinal injuries are terrible life changers.

[Guest Luv Ya Blue]

just this past friday at kirbyville (sept. 7th) kid broke his leg on the kickoff kinda looked like the joe theisman break. broke his leg in two places it was real bad he had surgery and had to get a rod put in his leg so i heard.

Ouch

[Guest ECBucFan]

That was worst that the Willis McGahee injury!  man!

Yep. I saw that. Brutal. Amazingly Penn State coach Joe Paterno had very nearly the same injury last year standing on the sidelines (of course). Bet it takes a long time for a 80 year old to heal! 

[whsalum]

The worst one I ever saw was at EC back in 1974.Good friend of mine,tight end , caught a pass over the middle and planted his leg to cut.Was hit from the side and the leg shattered.He got up, I guess in shock, and his foot was pointed the wrong way.Still makes me sick to think about it.

[SLandry09]

Just reading all of these stories is making me cringe!

[WH-BackInThaDay]

The worst I've ever observed had to be Joe Theisman on Monday night.

Experience, after the first few games with a twisted ankle, I started having knee problems while running the ball, and trying to cut. Turns out it was a fracture in my patella. I was warming up before the game, and I had just finished throwing to my receivers on some routes, so I started taking a few snaps and punting. On about the 3rd punt, as my foot made contact with the ball, it sounded like a broom stick snapped in half. My patella (knee cap) had snapped into, and the half of it that was attached to my quadricep tendon was pulled up into the top of my thigh and my muscle balled up above it. My leg looked deformed with a soft ball where my knee cap had been with a thin place between that and my bulky, upper thigh where my quad was balled up. Ouch.  :'(

[Bucster]

True Story.

About 15 years ago, a guy that worked for me was running chains at a JV game in Stinnett, Texas (located in the Tx Panhandle ..... you'll understand the significance later) when a player got his bell rung making a play. The coach needed to assess his player's injury and it went something like this.

Coach: "Do you know where you are at?"

Player: "Stinnett"

Coach: "What are you doing here?"

Player: "Playin' football."

Coach is feeling pretty good since the injured player has gotten 2 out of 2 correct but to be on the safe side, he gently turns the player so he is facing the scoreboard and asks "Son... can you tell me what the score is?" The Player responds " Coach .... I can't see the scoreboard because the palm trees keep getting in the way!"

Injured player was finished for the night.

[WH-BackInThaDay]

He he... thats fur-ny! I've had my bell rung like that, and after people told me things I was saying to them, it was embarassing. 

[ballhogz]

saw a wos soccer player get his face laid open by a cleat in a soccer game several years ago...the whole goal box was red.  it was awful