Worst Injury

[MarbleEye]

Mack Lee Hill of the Chiefs died indirectly from a football injury in 1965. He died during surgery to fix a knee injury in a game against Buffalo. I know it's indirect, but any injury that leads to a death probably should count here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Lee_Hill

[BD Sullivan]

In November 1975, the Browns' Billy Lefear returned the opening kickoff 94 yards before being tackled on the Bengal 2. On that tackle, he suffered a broken leg that was bad enough that he was still having pain 10 months later and was put on the PUP list. Typically, Art Modell tried to get around paying Lefear his regular salary by claiming it was a 1975 injury; therefore, Lefear was only worth paying what was described as a "living wage." Not surprisingly, Lefear went to the NFLPA, but I'm not sure what the final disposition was--my guess is that the then-toothless NFLPA came up short.

[JeffreyMiller]

Either Darryl Stingley's 1978 broken neck or Joe Theismann's 1985 broken leg is probably the first one that would come to mind with most people However, there are some others:


1963: Roger Kochman, RB for the Bills had two Oiler linemen land on his leg, which ended up severing ligaments and arteries.

I interviewed Roger Kochman for my book, "Rockin the Rockpile." It was pretty touch and go whether he was going to be able to keep his leg. Fortunately for him, Dr. DeBakey, the same doctor who pioneered heart transplantation, was in the area and performed the surgery that saved Kochman's leg. Kochman walked with an exaggerated limp for decades, but finally had a successful knee replacement years later.

Kochman was a very good player with a bright future ...

[Evan]

I've only seen the Napoleon MacCullum injury once, but I can't get that image of his leg folding forward at the knee out of my mind. Beyond gruesome.

One of the worst-looking episodes on the field, that thankfully did not lead to permanent damage, was Tommy Kramer going into convulsions after being tossed to the ground by Jim Youngblood during garbage time at the end of the 1978 Vikings-Rams regular season game.

A guy I know was a young kid when he watched that game and remembers running to his mom, crying because he thought Kramer was dead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 92797a8c0b

[sheajets]

Byrd did an amazing job. Was up and walking (with a cane I believe) within a year. Though he lived with pain and discomfort and could never walk normally, he was truly an inspiration and lived as close to a normal life as possible after such an injury. Tragically perished in a car accident last year. Was not at fault

Wasn't Tatum the only NFL player listed on the death certificate of another player? I've heard on Stingleys it reads something like "Complications from hit by Jack Tatum"