Who had the least serious injury that ended their career? IIRC, Jack Ham’s career ended due to severe turf-toe.
We probably have to define our terms a little bit. I mean, if you’re old enough and have maybe been in decline for a little while, plenty of relatively minor injuries would technically be “career-ending,” since they’d either provide a convenient moment to retire, or would convince teams that by the time you’re healthy, you’d be too old to be effective. Ham, for instance, was 35 when he played his last game, and the previous season he’d failed to make the pro bowl after 8 straight trips, suggesting significant decline (players of that caliber tend to make it on reputation alone unless they’ve clearly lost a few steps). As someone who’s admittedly quite ignorant of the particulars of Ham’s career, I’m pretty sure that the same exact injury wouldn’t have been career-ending if he’d been 5 or even 3 years younger.
Best definition: An injury, after reasonable rehab, he plays again.
And to be fair, turf toe is no joke. That shit will fuck you up.
Bill Goldberg’s NFL career was cut short by a pulled abdominal muscle. Okay, he actually tore it, and it required three operations to repair, but it sounds innocuous.