# Who is the Greatest Athlete Whose Career Was NOT Ruined Due to Injury? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 5, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372 "2008-07-05T13:47:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/1 "2008-07-05T13:47:55Z")
Obviously inspired by [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=474346) thread, how many pro atheletes have made comebacks after serious injury. One major player has to be [Tony Conigliaro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Conigliaro) of the Boston Red Sox. Hit in the eye and checkbone with a tossed pitch while at bat, and managed to come back and still play the game. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/2 "2008-07-05T13:59:49Z")
The correct answer to this question is Lance Armstrong. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/3 "2008-07-05T14:38:48Z")
[Ben Hogan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hogan) . Period. In 1949, Hogan survived a devastating car crash, a head-on collision with a bus. Doctors said he would never walk again, let alone play golf. Less than a year later, he placed second in the Los Angeles Open; five months after that, he won the US Open. He went on to win several more major tournaments before finally retiring in 1971. And anyone who doesn’t consider professional golfers athletes is welcome to meet me behind the clubhouse. 😉 ---
**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:** [July 5, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/4 "2008-07-05T14:51:12Z")
Armstrong. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/5 "2008-07-05T15:35:02Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Sensitive] Armstrong. [/QUOTE] As admirable and inspiring as Armstrong’s comeback has been, if we follow the OP strictly, we’re talking about injuries, not illnesses. If we expanded the premise to include illnesses, the definitive answer to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=474346) would be Lou Gehrig, without question. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/6 "2008-07-05T16:18:53Z")
**Greg Lemond** won the Tour in 1986. He then got shot by his BIL, in the chest IIRC, in a hunting accident. Took some time off and returned to win the Tour twice more, in 1989 and 1990. Lee Trevino was struck by lightening playing golf in the 70s, seriously injuring his back. He recovered and played golf throughout the late 70s at a world class level, although I’m not sure he won another major. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/7 "2008-07-05T16:30:56Z")
[QUOTE=Busy Scissors] **Greg Lemond** won the Tour in 1986. He then got shot by his BIL, in the chest IIRC, in a hunting accident. Took some time off and returned to win the Tour twice more, in 1989 and 1990. [/QUOTE] Heh! I just nominated Greg LeMond to the thread about careers ruined due to injury, since after all he would probably have won 2-3 more Tours were it not for the accident. (And yeah, he took a shotgun blast to the chest, and has pellets in the lining of his heart to this day.) > [@](#): > > This tragedy struck on April 20, 1987, when his brother-in-law accidentally shot Greg while hunting in California. Over forty shotgun pellets ripped through Greg’s body, lodging not only in his back and legs, but more critically in his small intestine, liver, diaphragm, and heart lining. While waiting for rescue, his right lung collapsed and he lost three quarters of his blood supply. A cell phone, a police helicopter and nearby hospital that specialized in gun shot wounds saved his life. Because of the dangerous locations, surgeons were forced to leave over thirty of the pellets imbedded in his body. (from [http://www.greglemond.com/aboutgreg.html](http://www.greglemond.com/aboutgreg.html)) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/8 "2008-07-05T17:59:10Z")
Michael Jordan missed his second season due to a broken foot, he turned out all right. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/9 "2008-07-05T21:11:09Z")
**Tommy John**. Wrecked his elbow, and probably would never have been able to pitch again, but he tried the experimental surgery that bears his name and was back after missing a year to end up winning 164 games after his career should have ended (according to what was known at the time). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/10 "2008-07-05T21:28:44Z")
[QUOTE=want2know] As admirable and inspiring as Armstrong’s comeback has been, if we follow the OP strictly, we’re talking about injuries, not illnesses. If we expanded the premise to include illnesses, the definitive answer to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=474346) would be Lou Gehrig, without question. Just sayin’. [/QUOTE] Um… Lou Gehrig DIDN’T come back from ALS. It killed him 2 years after it ended his career. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/11 "2008-07-05T22:40:15Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Um… Lou Gehrig DIDN’T come back from ALS. It killed him 2 years after it ended his career. [/QUOTE] I know–the link was to the other thread, about “ruined” careers. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/12 "2008-07-05T22:56:50Z")
[QUOTE=want2know] [Ben Hogan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hogan) . Period. In 1949, Hogan survived a devastating car crash, a head-on collision with a bus. Doctors said he would never walk again, let alone play golf. Less than a year later, he placed second in the Los Angeles Open; five months after that, he won the US Open. He went on to win several more major tournaments before finally retiring in 1971. And anyone who doesn’t consider professional golfers athletes is welcome to meet me behind the clubhouse. 😉 [/QUOTE] If we’re allowing illnesses, you are incorrect. The answer is Harry Vardon, who almost died of tuberculosis exacerbated by his insistence on continuing to play when he was already very ill, and then came back and came pretty close to regaining his primacy in the sport, even though the disease left him with a tremble that often gave him incredible trouble in putting. If not for his illness and if golf hadn’t been cancelled for a couple of wars there we might still not be coming near his records. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/13 "2008-07-05T23:08:16Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] If we’re allowing illnesses, you are incorrect. The answer is Harry Vardon, who almost died of tuberculosis exacerbated by his insistence on continuing to play when he was already very ill, and then came back and came pretty close to regaining his primacy in the sport, even though the disease left him with a tremble that often gave him incredible trouble in putting. If not for his illness and if golf hadn’t been cancelled for a couple of wars there we might still not be coming near his records. [/QUOTE] I was under the impression we _weren’t_ including illnesses–I was making a follow-up point to someone’s inclusion of Lance Armstrong. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/14 "2008-07-05T23:39:41Z")
Surely Tommy John must be the answer to this. I mean, the surgery that saved his career is named after him, and has saved dozens of other careers. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/15 "2008-07-08T02:28:52Z")
Imagine what Tiger Woods will be with a healthy knee and an unbroken leg. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-greatest-athlete-whose-career-was-not-ruined-due-to-injury/455372/16 "2008-07-08T13:53:26Z")
[Personal Ensign](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Ensign). After winning her first two starts, she needed five screws inserted into her hind leg, after which she won all eleven of her remaining career starts.