# Handicapped pro athletes **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 23, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138 "2010-04-23T19:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/1 "2010-04-23T19:20:55Z")
Aka PLZ DO MY HOMEWORK FOR ME. I’m working on a sidebar to an article about Pete Gray (the one-armed baseball player), which will consist of a couple paragraphs each about other professional athletes who played despite a serious disability; I already know about Jim Abbott and Kenny Walker (the deaf defensive lineman who was an all-american for Nebraska and started for a year for the Denver Broncos). There are a handful of other baseball players that I know of, but I’d like to get someone from a different sport. (I’d also prefer not to get into the Oscar Pistorius issue, as I don’t think I can do the controversy justice in a couple paragraphs.) Anyone have any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/2 "2010-04-23T19:27:47Z")
There’s [Bryan Berard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Berard), who nearly lost an eye during an NHL game in 2000. After seven operations and a contact lens that brought his vision in the right eye to slightly better than the minimum 20/400 threshold needed to play in the NHL, he returned to the league for the 2001-02 season, and played in the NHL until 2008. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/3 "2010-04-23T19:28:10Z")
Kicker Tom Dempsey of the New Orleans Saints? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/4 "2010-04-23T19:37:04Z")
[Reed Doughty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Doughty) is mostly deaf. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/5 "2010-04-23T19:48:59Z")
Dempsey’s a good idea - kicker is a different enough position from lineman that it might be worth it, and the fact that a kicker with only half a foot still holds the record for longest field goal is pretty amazing. I’m currently leaning towards [Natalie du Toit](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_du_toit), depending on how my editor feels about non-American athletes. (It’s a very US-centric publication). ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/6 "2010-04-23T19:49:46Z")
A great many blind people go into sports officiating[.](http://instantrimshot.com/) Jay Cutler has Type 1 Diabetes. Not quite a missing limb, but still a disability. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/7 "2010-04-23T20:18:09Z")
You may find this wiki link about golfer [Casey Martin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_Tour,_Inc._v._Martin) interesting. This link has more about the man, the first is about the lawsuit: > **[Casey Martin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Martin)** > > Casey Martin (born June 2, 1972) is an American professional golfer and the current men's golf head coach at the University of Oregon. > Martin was born in Eugene, Oregon and still resides there. He was educated at Stanford University, where he was initiated into the Sigma Chi fraternity and was briefly a teammate of Tiger Woods. He was a three-time all Pac-10 and was a member of the university's NCAA Championship team in 1994. He won the 1993 Sahalee Players Championship, and turned professional ... ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/8 "2010-04-23T20:28:00Z")
It’s yet another baseball player, but former Kansas City Royals outfielder [Jim Eisenreich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Eisenreich) has Tourrette’s Syndrome. It made him miss about 2.5 years of playing ball. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/9 "2010-04-23T20:33:09Z")
Former NHL defenceman [Jim Kyte](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Kyte) is deaf. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/10 "2010-04-23T20:41:06Z")
Alan Faneca and Tiki and Ronde Barber all have epilepsy. Are you interested in mental/psychological impairments? Rube Waddell was a phenomenal pitcher who there was _something_ wrong with, whether it was some personality disorder or mental retardation or something else. It was 100 years ago so rather than an actual diagnosis what he got was the name Rube. Zack Greinke and Joey Votto have each missed significant time due to problems with severe anxiety and depression. Barrett Robbins, the center from the Oakland Raiders, lost his career and very nearly his life because of the effects of his unmedicated bipolar disorder and substance abuse. Mike Tyson obviously has some kind of mental illness. There are more, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/11 "2010-04-23T20:42:24Z")
Curtis Pride is another deaf baseball player. [A good guy](http://www.togetherwithpride.org/), incidentally, and with the right sort of pride, and love for the game, to play some more in the independent minor leagues for roughly no money when his major league career was done. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/12 "2010-04-23T20:44:30Z")
There have been a few deaf baseball players, including Curtis Pride. (He played for a bunch of teams, including, fittingly, the Yankees.) The first deaf player in NBA history was Lance Allred. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/13 "2010-04-23T20:55:18Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > A great many blind people go into sports officiating[.](http://instantrimshot.com/) I came in to make that joke! :mad: But it’s a good thing us zebras are deaf too, or we’d toss you for a comment like that 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/14 "2010-04-23T20:57:34Z")
South African sprinter [Oscar Pistorius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius) is a double-amputee who became controversial when some critics claimed that his special prostheses actually gave him an unfair advantage over two-legged runners. Interesting story. (ETA: I suppose he wouldn’t count as a _pro_ athlete, strictly speaking. Still an intersting story.) ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/15 "2010-04-23T21:03:48Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > South African sprinter [Oscar Pistorius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius) is a double-amputee who became controversial when some critics claimed that his special prostheses actually gave him an unfair advantage over two-legged runners. Interesting story. > > (ETA: I suppose he wouldn’t count as a _pro_ athlete, strictly speaking. Still an intersting story.) Ummm. . . > [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > (I’d also prefer not to get into the Oscar Pistorius issue, as I don’t think I can do the controversy justice in a couple paragraphs.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/16 "2010-04-23T21:08:13Z")
Dontrelle Willis also has social anxiety disorder. Hall of Fame pitcher Mordecai Brown was nicknamed “Three Finger” for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/17 "2010-04-23T21:09:13Z")
Thanks, guys. Here’s some bonus material from today’s research: [A newspaper article about the sign-language standing ovation given to Nebraska’s Kenny Walker in his final home game](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1290&dat=19901226&id=5dkPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KY0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6782,5734617) Apparently, Jim Abbott wasn’t the first one-handed pitcher; there was a guy named [Hugh Daily](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Daily) who pitched in the 1880s. Like Abbott, he also pitched a no-hitter. There’s an [entire book about major league ballplayers who overcame disabilities](http://books.google.com/books?id=wu1cJHb4yo0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=beating+the+breaks&ei=PwvSS-WuApW-Nueb4eoH&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=false). (In addition to Gray, 1945 also saw a guy with an artificial leg pitching in the big leagues). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/18 "2010-04-23T21:10:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Dontrelle Willis also has social anxiety disorder. I forget if Ricky Williams was ever formally diagnosed, but he might have that, too. And good call on Three Finger Brown. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/19 "2010-04-23T21:11:50Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Dontrelle Willis also has social anxiety disorder. > > Hall of Fame pitcher Mordecai Brown was nicknamed “Three Finger” for a reason. To be fair, Willlis’ condition was treatable, and wouldn’t be considered a handicap. Three Finger Brown’s condition, however, was indeed permanent. ETA: That’s not to say that anxiety disorders can’t be considered a handicap. But Willis’ condition was diagnosed just last year, while he’s been playing since '03. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138/20 "2010-04-23T21:13:59Z")
Antonio Alfonseca, another Cubs pitcher, had six fingers on his throwing hand, come to think of it. I don’t think that was a handicap for him, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-pro-athletes/537138.md?page=2)