# What is a "career ending injury?" **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 26, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025 "2010-07-26T08:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/21 "2010-07-27T15:52:42Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Agreed that he was a fabulous player, but, truly, he had 3 1/2 great seasons, plus one very good one, and only played in 68 total games, under a 14-game schedule. In a modern, 16-game schedule, that’s a career of only 4 1/4 seasons. Then that makes him an excellent example of having a career-ending injury. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/22 "2010-07-27T17:12:30Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Then that makes him an excellent example of having a career-ending injury. I believe I said exactly that, in post #10. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/23 "2010-07-27T17:30:36Z")
Few people recall that St. Louis Cardinals legend Stan Musial was originally signed as a pitcher. His record in the minor leagues was 33-13 before he fell on his shoulder, injuring it and ending his pitching career. While Musial would play 22 seasons in the majorsas a first baseman and outfielder, his throwing was only considered “marginal” or “adequate.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/24 "2010-07-27T20:07:19Z")
In memory of Jack Tatum’s passing away today: He ended Darry Stingley’s career with a hit that caused quadriplegia. The only more severe “career-ending” injury than that might have to be Ray Chapman’s beaning death. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/25 "2010-07-29T05:45:37Z")
Herb Score was a hard throwing pitcher who got hit in the eye by a line drive off Gil Mcdougals bat. he tried a comeback after a year or so but it did not last. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/26 "2010-07-29T05:58:16Z")
> [@](#): > > **Omniscient** ; > > The Tim Krumrie was always the gold standard for me. Worse than the Theisman one Worst one I ever saw as it happened was [Napoleon McCallum on MNF](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ8yOie0BY8). As Dan Dierdorf says, “Don’t look at this if you don’t want to see it”. Nasty. His leg was in danger of being amputated for a while. As others have said, a career ender varies by sport, position, and age. A recoverable injury might end the career of a player in the last stages of his career. Neck injuries, catastrophic knee injuries and arm injuries for a pitcher are usually the ones that do it though, despite advances in sports medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/27 "2010-07-29T18:00:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The first athlete I thought of when I saw the thread title was Bo Jackson. He suffered a serious hip injury that ended his NFL career immediately and brought his MLB career to an end a few years later. Although Joe Theismann is my mental image of the career-ending injury, I wanted to note that Bo Jackson’s injury precluded what was shaping up to be a fabulous career. I saw him (on TV) for the first time in a game against the Seattle Seahawks. He was a rookie. Seattle had a lineback who at that time was held in high regard, Brian Bosworth. Here is a summary of that game from Bosworth’s Wikipedia page: > [@](#): > > Before a 1987 Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Raiders. The Seahawks had already beaten the Raiders once in the season (who were floundering at the 3-7 mark) when Bosworth insulted Los Angeles Raiders rookie running back Bo Jackson and promised in a media event before the game that he would contain the running back. Bo had made his debut only a few weeks before and been impressive in 4 losses. > > Bosworth was unable to fulfil his promise, and Jackson ended up rushing for 221 yards scoring 3 touchdowns including an untouched run 91-yard down the sideline, only slowing down as he passed through the entrance to the field tunnel to the dressing rooms. Later in the game Bosworth was involved in a one-on-one tackle at the goalline with Bo and was unable to prevent the running back from getting the score. The play became one of the most memorable plays in Monday Night Football history. The game became the defining moment of both his and Bo Jackson’s rookie seasons, and became serial highlight fodder in subsequent seasons compounding the matter. That doesn’t do it justice. I saw that 91-yard run. Bosworth read the play, knew a sweep was coming, and when Jackson went in motion, Bosworth (correctly) committed himself to run to the sideline. Jackson had farther to go to reach the sideline and turn the corner while moving past the line of scrimmage; Bosworth had only to run to the sideline, and he went all-out. Jackson accelerated so fast that he swept around the line before Bosworth got within fingertip range, and was gone downfield like he’d been shot out of a gun. One of the best linebackers in the league had read the pplay, focused on the ballcarrier, and gone all-out for a tackle, and had had absolutely no chance of reaching Jackson. My first thought was, “how in the _world_ is anyone going to contain this guy?” Career-ending injury, it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/28 "2010-07-29T18:07:33Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > One of the best linebackers in the league When was Brian Bosworth ever one of the best linebackers in the league? I remember him mostly as a big-talking non-performer who didn’t stick around the league very long. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/29 "2010-07-29T18:20:59Z")
[Jack Newton - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Newton) Jack Newton was a pro golfer who walked into a spinning propeller of a Cesna plane. It took off his arm and did a few other things. His career came to a sudden halt. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/30 "2010-07-29T18:53:09Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > > [@Sailboat](#): > > > > One of the best linebackers in the league > > When was Brian Bosworth ever one of the best linebackers in the league? I remember him mostly as a big-talking non-performer who didn’t stick around the league very long. Yeah, no argument with that assessment. But that’s hindsight – _at the time of that run_, the talking heads considered him hot stuff (maybe I should have put quotes around “best” in _One of the best linebackers in the league_), and that’s what my impression was based on. At least Jackson turned out to be pretty good for his short career, if not quite so untouchable as that play implied. . ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/31 "2010-08-01T20:08:20Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > If you have a really strong stomach, or a perverse fondness for gruesome injury footage, google Joe Theisman injury. There’s likely video of it on youtube or somewhere. Meh, that’s nothing – try watching footage of Clint Malarchuk’s injury! 😉 He’s the reason goalies wear neckguards. (It didn’t end his career, though – he was back out on the ice, oh maybe three months later?) Do NOT look up the footage unless you have a stomach made of damascus steel. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025/32 "2010-08-01T23:01:02Z")
The New York Giants are more than likely facing a career-ending injury to their 3rd round pick this year, safety [Chad Jones](http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/07/new_york_giants_safety_chad_jo.html). Part of the reason he was drafted is because their #1 pick in the 2008 draft, safety Kenny Phillips, was knocked out of the first game last year with a [career-threatening condition](http://bleacherreport.com/articles/260970-a-giant-question-mark-phillips-knee-injury-career-threatening). At this point, being a safety drafted in the first few rounds by the Giants is a career-threatening proposition. Here’s hoping the free agents fare better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-career-ending-injury/548025.md?page=1)