Injuries tend to attract star athletes. No matter how bad the situation is we need to know what is wrong them. If injury-prone Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose takes a bad fall the highlight will be the lead on SportsCenter.
Our fascination with injuries does come from the aggressive and unforgiving sports media. We're still talking about New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith's jaw and probably will be all season. If there was a video we would be talking about it for his entire career.
With the NFL preseason is underway, most fans are already looking past these games to opening day of the regular season. The league has been under massive scrutiny recently. A part of the criticism has been for the plethora of injuries and concussion issues.
Players past and present don't believe that the league is protecting them. Multi-million dollar lawsuits have been filed. Tragic stories have been told. No one wishes for an athlete to get hurt.
So why is it that once they do, we can't look away?
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Shaun Livingston's Career Nearly Ends
The early part of Livingston's career was riddled with injuries but this one almost ended his career. He tore his ACL, PCL, sprained his MCL, and ruptured his Patella all on this tragic play. It took months for him to walk again. He battled back and is now lucky enough to be an important part of the champion Golden State Warriors.
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Allan Ray's Eye Gets Poked Out
Former Villanova guard Allan Ray had a good career. Unfortunately he will always be known as the dude whose eye got poked out. If you watched it live it was incredibly scary to witness.
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Marcus Lattimore's Second Knee Injury
Projected to be a star in the NFL, South Carolina Running Back Marcus Lattimore was never the same after his second major knee injury/surgery. He was forced to retire from the NFL before after playing a down.
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Sid Vicious Breaks His Leg
Professional Wrestler Sid Vicious had a very real moment when his career almost ended during a high-risk move he would later state he was forced into doing.
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Bill Gramática Injured During Celebration
Not a gruesome injury to watch, but you feel bad for the rookie kicker who tears his ACL while celebrating. Especially when it's in the first quarter. On a 43-yard attempt.
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Speaking of Celebrations...
Kendrys Morales hit a walk off grand slam for the Los Angeles Angels and as he rounded the bases was all set to participate in the baseball tradition of celebrating with your teammates at homeplate. This didn't go well.
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Tyson vs. Holyfield
Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield might be able to joke about the infamous "bite fight" now, but back in 1997 no one was laughing. It was one of the most
shocking moments in professional sports history. Tyson biting off part of Holyfield’s ear is as brutal as it is memorable.
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Willis McGahee in the National Championship
McGahee tore his ACL, MCL, and PCL when his knee bent backwards on this devastating hit. Adding to that was that his Miami team went on to lose the game and their perfect season in overtime. Proving many doubters wrong, he went on to have a good NFL career.
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Kevin Ware's Horrifying Leg Injury
Even non-sports fans saw the video of Kevin Ware's injury. It was everywhere. The title speaks for itself.
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LT breaks Joe Theismann's Leg
Joe Theismann was an ironman. When quarterbacks were using double-bar or triple-bar face masks, he refused to use anything but the single-bar. Even someone that tough can't handle a hit going the wrong way. This hit was so terrible that Lawrence Taylor felt bad about it. The extent of the damage forced Theismann into retirement.