The Dumbest Injuries in Sports

Kellen Winslow Jr., Ron Gant, Jay Williams: All three of these guys had a type of motorcycle/dirt bike accident. Getting a multimillion dollar contract, and blowing it by riding a bike. Seems logical.

Ken Griffey Jr.: Ken once missed a game after his protective cup slipped, and pinched one of his testicles. He also once strained his back lifting boxes once but hey you gotta lift with your knees, not your back.

Jeff Kent: Some say he missed the beginning of the 2002 season when falling off his pickup truck while attempting to wash it. Many believed he actually fell off a motorcycle, which would violate his contract.

Moises Alou: Moises once injured his knee by falling off a treadmill in 1999. After recovering and planning to play in 2000, Alou then re-injured his knee after running over his son.

Glenallen Hill: This is one of my favourites. There are many people afraid of spiders and I am kind of one of them. But I have never had a nightmare about them, fallen out of bed and through a glass table, and never woken up from any of this? Hill did it and missed several games with cuts all over his body.

Clint Barmes: At one point winning the race for the NL batting title, Barmes’ rookie season came to a screeching halt when he broke his collarbone after falling down the stairs. Barmes was carrying a frozen load of deer meat, given to him by former NL batting champion Todd Helton.

Sammy Sosa: Sammy Sosa made headlines after missing time in 2004 with a strained ligament in his back. How did he get it? A violent sneeze. Sosa reportedly sneezed so hard that his back jerked forward causing the injury.

Marty Cordova: This guy missed part of a season because he got sunburned. The best part of the story, however, is that it was not a sunburn that occurred during a hot day in Arizona or Miami. Cordova actually burned himself while in a tanning salon in May 2002.

Gus Frerotte: In 1997, Frerotte decided to bang his head into the wall behind the end zone after his TD rush, and missed the rest of a key game with neck pains.

Bill Gramatica: Not only the dumbest sports injury, but probably one of the stupidest things you’ll ever witness, period. After nailing a 42-yard field goal to put the Arizona Cardinals up 3-0 in the first half of a regular season game, kicker Bill Gramatica jumped up in wild celebration, came down, and tore his ACL. Gramatica missed the rest of the season.

Alex Stepney: One of soccer’s jaw dropping moments came from Manchester United’s Alex Stepney. On one occasion Alex Stepney had an unusual sports injury when he broke his jaw during a game. Was it because of a collision at the goal? Was it because Stepney used his face to block a shot? No, it was because Alex Stepney yelled so hard he broke his jaw.

Chris Hanson: When Chris Hanson was a kicker for the Jacksonville Jaguars his coach was Jack Del Rio. After the Jacksonville Jaguars had lost three games in a row Jack Del Rio brought in an axe and a piece of wood and told his team to “keep chopping wood.” Everyday players would take a chop at the piece of wood. One day Chris Hanson was done working out and went to take his chop of the day but his swing was way off and he ended up cutting his own leg instead.

Milton Bradley: Bradley suffered a torn ACL while being restrained from going after an umpire during the Padres’ 2007 season.

Vince Coleman: During the 1985 NLCS, Coleman was injured when the inattentive crew at old Busch Stadium hit the speedster with the metal tarp cylinder as they were covering the field.

Tony Allen: I remember seeing this one and it made me scream. The guard went up for an unnecessary monster dunk after the whistle and came down with a season-ending knee injury.

Alfonso Soriano: In April of 2007 Soriano and his .175 batting average were placed on the Cubs’ 15-day disabled list after straining his right calf. The injury happened right after Soriano landed from the “bunny hop” he habitually performs while catching fly balls.

Brandon Inge: Inge was trying to prop a pillow behind his son’s head and repopped a strained muscle. He had to sit out for 15 days because of the injury.

Joel Zumaya: The pitcher strained his arm playing “Guitar Hero” on the PS2 and had to sit out three games.

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson, winner of the Nextel Cup, was “horsing around” on top of a moving golf cart when he fell off of it and broke his left wrist. The injury kept him from driving for about four weeks.

Adam Eaton: When he played for the San Diego Padres, Eaton accidentally stabbed himself in the stomach with a paring knife while trying to remove the packaging of a DVD.

Kevin Mitchell: Mitchell, who once strained a muscle while vomiting, allegedly chipped his tooth while biting into a previously frozen doughnut that hardened after he left in the microwave.

Santiago Canizares: The goalkeeper sat out the World Cup in Korea and Japan due to clumsiness. He dropped a bottle of cologne on his foot, severing a tendon: (but at least his foot smelled good).

Glenn Healy: This former hockey player needed stitches because of a brawl with some bagpipes. He needed 40 stitches to close up his hand after he cut it while changing the bag on a vintage set of bagpipes.

John Smoltz: The Atlanta pitcher reportedly scalded himself while ironing a shirt he was wearing.

Wade Boggs: He hurt his back when he lost his balance while trying to put on cowboy boots.

George Brett: Brett hit his foot on a chair and broke his toe while running from the kitchen to the TV to see Bill Buckner hit. I really find this one hard to believe!

Nolan Ryan: Apparently Ryan was bitten by a coyote.

[Via Cuzoogle]