Injuries are a big part of sports. Some are obviously bad enough where players are out. The big issues happens when players are “questionable” or needed by their teams. Can they play? Should they play through the pain?
Klay and Kevon give it a go
The Warriors are down 3-1 in the NBA Finals after Friday’s loss to Toronto. Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney fought through injuries to suit up and play. Thompson scored 28 points and Looney added 10 as they combined to play 62 minutes despite their pains
Of Bruins and Blues
Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins has been grabbing all the headlines for playing with what is reportedly a broken jaw in the Stanley Cup Final. However, Blues defenseman Vince Dunn is also taking to the ice with his jaw wired shut.
Curt Schilling
Curt Schilling limited the New York Yankees to one run over the seven innings he pitched during Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS for the Boston Red Sox, who were making an historic comeback. Schilling pitched on an injured ankle that led to him literally having a red sock … as in bloody.
Jack Youngblood
Jack Youngblood played all three 1979 playoff games with a fractured leg … then played the Pro Bowl — the Pro Bowl — the week following the Super Bowl, too.
Terrell Owens
Seven weeks before Super Bowl XXXIX, Terrell Owens of the Eagles broke his leg and and tore a ligament in his right ankle. The injury required surgery, and his doctor wouldn’t clear him to play against the Patriots. Out of 72 offensive snaps, though, Owens played 62 and caught nine passes for 122 yards on 14 targets.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open in 2008 on a leg with stress fractures and a knee that had a torn ligament. He birdied the 18th hole of the fourth round to force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate. They were tied at the end of that and the tournament went to sudden death. Tiger won on the first hole. His leg was operated on days later.
Triple H
Triple H is “The Game” and a gamer. He suffered a torn quad during a tag-team in 2001 and continued on to the finish. It was Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho against Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Triple H went to break up a ‘Walls of Jericho’ hold applied by Jericho to his partner Stone Cold, and as he planted his left leg, his quad tore
Philip Rivers
In 2008, Philip Rivers had an ACL tear and had arthroscopic surgery to put his knee somewhat back together before the AFC Championship. The Chargers lost to the Patriots and Rivers need more surgery during that off-season to fix the leg.
Kirk Gibson
Kirk Gibson could barely walk, let alone play. No one expected him to pinch-hit or do anything for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 World Series. Yet, there he was in the bottom of the ninth of Game One getting ready to face Dennis Eckersley, the Oakland Athletics’ elite closer. All Gibson did was hit a dramatic, game-winning home run that still echoes to this day in World Series history.
Aaron Rodgers
The Green Bay Packers were in trouble in the opening game of 2018. The Bears were devouring them and Aaron Rodgers had left the field with some type of leg injury. After halftime, the great quarterback surprised everyone — but himself — by returning and leading a remarkable comeback in a 24-23 victory.
Brett Favre
Brett Favre was impervious to injury in college and all through his pro career. Five weeks after getting in a car crash that resulted in him losing 30 inches of intestines, Southern Miss QB Brett Favre beat Alabama in 1990. Here’s the long list of injuries he battled through in the NFL.
Keri Strug
The U.S. Women’s Gymnastic Team’s hope of winning the team gold rested with Kerri Strug, as she prepared for her final vault during the 1996 Summer Olympics. Strug had torn two ligaments in her ankle on the previous attempt. In immense pain, she mustered up the courage and strength to go through with the vault, and somehow managed to stick the landing on one leg, ensuring gold for the United States.
Bert Trautmann
Byron Leftwich
Byron Leftwich became a national sensation when he was at Marshall for one of the gutsiest performances in college football. Marshall faced Akron in a MAC regular-season matchup in 2002. Leftwich broke his left tibia in the early stages of the first quarter and left the game to get an X-ray. By time he returned, Marshall was down 27-10 in the third quarter. He wound throwing for 208 yards on a broken leg. The defining memories are Leftwich being carried downfield by his linemen.
Derek Redmond (Olympics)
Derek Redmond was running the 400 meters for the Britain in the 1992 Olympics. During the race his hamstring snapped. Redmond fell. His dad was watching from the stands. Trying to join his son, on the track, Jim pushed-away an Olympic official who tried to stop him. Father met son and he helped the injured runner across the finish line in a dramatic Olympic moment.
Michael Jordan (flu)
Michael Jordan was sick. The Jazz built a 16-point lead over his Bulls early in the NBA Finals with the series tied at 2-2. Jordan put on one of the most remarkable performances in leading the Bulls back. In Chicago’s 90-88 win, Jordan recorded 38 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, including a 3-pointer with less than a minute left that gave the Bulls a lead they did not relinquish.
Emmitt Smith
In the final game of the 1993 regular season, the Dallas Cowboys saw Emmitt Smith separate his shoulder in a division-deciding showdown with the New York Giants. Smith refused to stop playing, gaining 78 total yards after the injury, and finished with 229, 168 on the ground. The Cowboys won and went on to win their second Super Bowl under Jimmy Johnson.
Donovan McNabb
Donovan McNabb’s ankle snapped in a 2002 game against the Cardinals, but he kept playing. He wound up throwing for 257 yards and four touchdown passes in a 38-14 win.
Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin suffered a fractured vertebra in a crash after contact with Joey Logano on the final lap at Auto Club Speedway in March 2013. Initially, Hamlin was told he’d be sidelined for at least six weeks, but he returned to his No. 11 Toyota after missing four races.
Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski made his way to Victory Lane at Pocono in August 2011 days after breaking his left ankle, which became badly swollen following a crash while testing earlier in the week at Road Atlanta, where he hit the wall at better than 100 miles per hour.
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip suffered a fractured left femur, a broken left elbow and a concussion after being broadsided by Dave Marcis in July 1990 at Daytona. Waltrip required five hours of surgical repair on his leg, but somehow raced at Pocono two weeks later.
Dale Earnhardt
After suffering a broken sternum and collarbone when his vintage black No. 3 car flipped and was hit by several others in a violent crash at Talladega in July 1996. Remarkably, Earnhardt won the pole and went the full distance on the road course at Watkins Glen two weeks after his crash.
Y.A. Tittle
Y.A. Tittle was hit hard by Pittsburgh Steeelers defensive end John Baker early in his final season as quarterback for the New York Giants. Despite suffering a serious concussion and broken sternum, Tittle continued playing for the rest of the season.
Willis Reed
Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals will forever be known as “The Willis Reed Game.” The Knicks’ captain suffered a leg injury in Game 5 and exited. He missed Game 6 and his status for the deciding contest was a mystery. He hobbled onto the court at Madison Square Garden, with the help of several numbing injections. Reed hit his first two shots — his only ones of the game — and the Knicks went on to blow out the Lakers for their first championship.
