Moderator interjects: I’ve amended the title of the thread to make it clear what y’all are talking about. See FAQ - Guidelines and Etiquette and note post #3.
The reaction of the dude who tackled Theisman was indicative to how awful it was. He went from celebrating his most excellent sack to saying (one imagines), “Holy shit!!!”
As a Bengals fame, I’ll never forget Tim Krumrie’s injury for its graphic horrificness or Carson Palmer’s injury for its graphic (false) innocuousness.
Lawrence Taylor
I was thinking about Palmer’s injury. You’re right, *PunditLisa, it looks like von Oelhoffen just sorta hits Palmer low, not all that hard, and then Palmer just can’t get up. This page has a video. Just click the link, I don’t think it will load automatically.
The only broken leg I’ve seen live in football when I was watching something like the first or second televised XFL game. That stopped play for like 45 minutes.
Not a video, just a pic. There are two blue stockings in that picture; look at the one on the left. Not surprisingly, he never played again.
This guy is out for at least nine months.
But this one always makes me cringe.
I couldn’t really see it in the video. The photo I saw 20 years ago was clear.
Hideki Matsui’s broken wrist earlier this season was pretty icky to watch.
Moises Alou broke his leg a few years ago in a manner every bit as horrifying as the Theismann injury. He just stopped running while rounding second, and for whatever reason, it snapped like a twig and was flopping like a noodle. The ump had to turn and hide his eyes. It was vile.
And Robin Ventura once broke his ankle sliding into home. You could tell because his foot was pointed 180 degrees in the wrong direction, which, as you may know, it isn’t supposed to do. I saw a still photo of it and it was hard to believe it even when you were looking at it.
Moreso when you realize that Taylor sacked quite a few quarterbacks in his day, and caused more than a few injuries and was not a generally warm and fuzzy guy on (or off) the field. That HE was calling for help means something is very, very wrong.
I showed that video to my wife a few years ago, and she said something like, “It just looks like he hyperextended his knee.” Until I pointed out the the hyperextension occured nowhere near the knee.
What I came here to post was Tony Saunders breaking his arm in 1999. I can’t find video, but it’s a weird freak injury. He’s just pitching the ball, and his arm sort of just falls off, attached only by skin. He collapses to the ground writhing in agony.
The guy tried to make a comeback, only to have it happen again.
He then retired.
The player from Villanova Basketball getting his eyeball popped out during the NCAA tourney was pretty nasty,
I love that you guys assume posters have stomachs of steel, posting “there’s a link to a video of this horrific injury here.” I would no more click one of those links than I would put a fork in my own eye. 
And when you do that, please post the video on YouTube so we can all enjoy it. 
Robin
Wesley Woodyard breaks Michael Bush’s leg.
And UofL still whipped our asses.
I’m not usually squeamish, due to a few years riding as an EMT. But this video clip raise the hairs up on my body. I had to go and Google, because one suspects based upon the gushing blood and sliced jugular that this man died right there on the darned ice.
Thankfully, that is not the case
***** NOTE- THERE IS A GRAPHIC COLOR PHOTOGRAPH OF CLINT ON THE ICE, WITH A POOL OF BLOOD UNDER HIM. IT IS NOT SEEN UPON FIRST HIT OF THIS LINK, IT HAS TO BE SCROLLED DOWN TO BUT IT IS A PART OF THIS LINK.*** **
Cartooniverse
When they go to the reverse angle clip, take a good look at Joe’s right leg (the leg farthest away from your viewpoint). Once Joe gets sacked, you’ll see his leg bend at a really bizarre angle. (It almost looks like Joe’s doing a split in that clip.)
Unfortunately, I remember watching that one live when it happened. I seem to recall them replaying that two or three times and then deciding that that was more than enough.
I saw that video with Malarchuk awhile back, and wished I hadn’t. I didn’t look this time. It still makes me queasy to think about it.
The only other one I know of that hasn’t been mentioned here was in WWF Wrestling. It was Sid Vicious, and I don’t remember the circumstances exactly–he was jumping off the top rope and landed badly. Basically, his leg broke clean through and hung at a right angle from his body, like all he had in there was rubber. Here’s a video of it (which somebody has inexplicably set to “The Monster Mash”…). No blood, just a leg bent a way that no proper leg should ever bend.
WCW, actually, not the WWF. One of the last WCW PPVs, in fact. Sid broke his leg, then got paid to stay home until his contract ran out.
No word on if he’s returned to playing semi-pro softball.
It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t just a famous race car driver who died that day; a teenage race marshall named Jansen Van Vuuren was also killed in that accident.