Top 4 Career-Ending Injuries in the NFL

Arguably, an NFL career’s average duration is probably one of the shortest one in any sport. It’s a brutal sport for sure, but as it’s the case of the sport, the NFL has made sure that the physical and mental health of all their athletes is in top-notch shape, and if any health problem occurs, it will be brought to attention immediately. Sometimes, it can be the talk of sports websites and sports mags, which is one of the most useful things to know before making your draft pick.

However, this doesn’t mean that there are no more injuries in the field. Some players are lucky that they will end their careers with no long-term or short-term health problems, but not all leave the field the same way. Long-term health issues are quite common in the sport, and most of these health problems occur after retirement. If you think about it, they’re quite lucky since they have to deal with it after their careers have ended. 

But probably the worst thing to happen to an athlete in the NFL is to suffer an agonizing injury that will cut their career short. Luckily, this is rare, and there are only a few athletes in the NFL who have suffered career-ending injuries throughout the decades. That said, some NFL athletes have their careers ended short because of their severe injuries.

Terrell Davis

Terrel Davis is an excellent running back. In fact, if he didn’t suffer as he did, he would have been labeled as one of the greatest running backs of all time. However, that didn’t happen, although you can still mark him as one of the best running backs. 

Between 1995 and 1998, he had a fantastic run with 6,413 rushing yards and 56 touchdowns total. He also had a feat during the 1998 season where he rushed for 2008 yards and 21 touchdowns.

If you ask any fan about it, he was destined to be one of the best, if not for his injury in 1999. He tried to make a tackle after an interception, which tore his ACL and MCL in his right knee. He still played a few seasons after that injury, but he never performed like the past seasons. You could very well say that he lost his touch, especially after several injuries where he suffered stress fractures in his lower leg.

Tony Boselli

Among all the general managers and NFL coaches in the league, Tony Boselli’s name is unheard of. The main reason is that Tony Boselli is the most outstanding left tackle the sport has ever seen, especially during the 90s, where excellent left tackles are a dime a dozen, some of Tony’s are inducted in the hall of fame. 

You may have heard of Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden, which are great left tackles by their own right, but none of them can scale Tony’s ability as a left tackle.

Although Tony Boselli is the greatest left tackle that the game has ever seen and was on the path to the Hall of Fame,  the injury he got cut his career short. He was the first player inducted in the Jacksonville franchise and had Pro Bowl selection five times. He was also a Pro Bowler three times despite having started his career, which is a shame when it’s halted by an injury to the left shoulder.

Chris Spielman

Chris Spielman was a four-time Pro Bowl linebacker and was on his way to being the greatest until he suffered several injuries in his career. In fact, he suffered multiple neck injuries during his 10-year career in the NFL with the Lions and the Bills. At the start of his career, he was a force to be reckoned with because of being a tackling machine for Detroit. As a rookie, he made an impressive feat of 153 tackles.

Although he’s a splendid tackler and overall athlete, his career was halted because of an injury that lasted for eight games until the injury required spinal surgery. After 1998, he attempted a comeback, but unfortunately, another neck injury made this impossible, and he was forced to retire from the game.

Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson’s career-ending injury might be the most well-known one in this list. This multiple sport athlete is excellent in both football and baseball and had great careers in both of them. However, Bo Jackson’s athletic career was cut short due to his injury at the hip. It was during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals back in 1991.

At the end of a 34-yard run in a routine tackle, Jackson seemingly dislocated his hip. It was even made worse because of the fracture his hip suffered and his knee joint dying because of the lack of blood. And with that, Bo Jackson never played football ever again.

Takeaway

Football is a brutal sport; that’s why its athletes and the league always ensure that everybody is fit to play the game. However, no matter how many preparations you do, there will still be that inevitability of someone getting injured and having their career ended. That’s why everybody makes it a point that everybody is aware of that and is prepared for taking the consequences of the sport they love. 

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