Just want to chime in to say that, in addition to the four pro football players that Dignan cited, two others suffered spinal cord injuries during a game that led to their deaths. Howard Glenn of the New York Titans (before they changed their names to the Jets) broke his neck in a game on October 9, 1960 against the Houston Oilers. He was taken to the locker room, where he died. Stone Johnson, a rookie running back for the Chiefs who had comepted in the 1960 Olympic games as a sprinter, broke his neck in a gmae against the Raiders and died from his injuries 10 days later.
For what it’s worth, five NFL players have died of a heart attack suffered during or after a game / practice. I don’t think anyone has mentioned Korey Stringer, who died of heatstroke during practice a few years ago.
She was mostly paralyzed from the neck down, with a bit of arm function regained after serious physical therapy. She’d been preparing to return to school when she died.
Cycling throws up quite a few, from RTA with fatalities to paralysis.
Paul Crake - Spinal injuries five riders were blown off the road and he was paralysed from the waist down, this was on the 8th stage of NZs Tour of Southland
Roger Riviere - Crashed on a Tour De France stage, went down into a ravine and fractured his spine, paralysed from the waist down.
Cycling is one of the most dangerous sports you can take part in, primarily because it takes place on the roads and clashes with motorised vehicles.It also relies heavily on skill and experience but includes many variables that are not easy to predict, such as changes to road surfaces, weather etc.
Even if you do not get taken out by a vehicle, and I know a few folk who are no longer with us, the risk of a crash whilst riding in a bunch is significant.
Cycling unfortunately ranks as one of the most dangerous sports in terms of injury, only basketball ranks above it and it has far more deaths, probably more than any other sport.
Cycling deaths and injuries are mostly due to lack of experience, club riders show markedly lower accident rates, and these are the ones least likely to wear a crash hat.
This is in the US, once you get to Europe, cycling comes out as very much more dangerous than any other sport in terms of numbers, as basketball isn’t all that popular.
The single most dangerous sporting event has to be the Isle of Man motorcycle TT, every single year there are several deaths, some years 10 or 11, others just 4 or 5, occasionally there will be no fatlities.
When you start looking at the ‘deaths by circuit’, you start to realise just how lethal the Isle of Man circuit is, as most other circuits have at most only a handful of fatlities
This is a list of those killed during competition, it does not include marshals, bystanders etc, the full total is not publicised, but the TT fortnight brings in lots of tourism money and is crucial to the island’s economy, I can’t help but wonder if the difficulty of finding comprehensive lists is connected to that fact.