In honor of Antonio Brown, 10 of the weirdest injuries in NFL history
On Wednesday, there were reports that All-Pro Antonio Brown has been missing training camp practices with the Oakland Raiders due to an issue with his feet — reportedly that there was a “mishap” with a cryogenic therapy machine, and that he didn’t wear proper footwear while in the chamber.
Dr. David Chao, a former Los Angeles Chargers team doctor, disputes this, saying that based on photos Brown posted of his feet on Instagram, he believes the problem is “macerated feet” — often caused by hyperhidrosis, which means his feet sweat a great deal. Chao, who isn’t treating Brown, wrote that macerated skin plus cryotherapy would more likely be the culprit of Brown’s blistered, peeling feet.
At any rate, Brown’s injury is one of the weirdest we’ve heard of, though it certainly isn’t the first time an NFL player has missed time to a weird injury.
Thanks in part to NFL Research (and in no particular order), here’s 10 others:
Bill Gramatica tears his ACL celebrating a field goal
This one happened in 2001. Bill Gramatica, then a rookie kicker with the Arizona Cardinals, suffered a torn ACL in Week 14 while celebrating a 42-yard field goal. The injury was in his non-kicking leg, and while Gramatica was able to convert a 23-yard kick later in the game, he missed the rest of the season.
Plaxico Burress shoots himself in the leg
On Nov. 28, 2008, Plaxico Burress was at a New York City nightclub when he shot himself in his right thigh; he had a pistol in the pocket of his pants and accidentally pulled the trigger.
A solid receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants to that point, Burress not only ended his season, he essentially ended his career: he spent 20 months in a New York prison because he didn’t have a license for the gun.
Jason Pierre-Paul’s fireworks accident
On July 4, 2015, Pierre-Paul was about finished setting off the over $1,000 worth of fireworks he’d bought for his entire neighborhood to enjoy a holiday show. But the fuse on one of the last sticks was giving him difficulty, and after trying to light it seven times, there was an eruption and a bang, and Pierre-Paul’s right hand was mangled.
He missed the first eight games of the 2015 season. Pierre-Paul, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is currently recovering from a fractured neck suffered in a May 2 car crash.
Lamarr Houston tears ACL celebrating a sack
Midway through the 2014 season, Lamarr Houston and the Chicago Bears were down 48-23 to the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter, a lead so comfortable the Patriots had pulled Tom Brady for Jimmy Garoppolo.
But when Houston sacked Garoppolo, essentially a useless play, he celebrated — and tore his ACL in the process. The defensive tackle missed the rest of the season.
Gus Frerotte’s sprained neck
Gus Frerotte wound up spending 13 years in the NFL and starting games for seven teams. But there’s one thing he’s remembered for: a game on Nov. 23, 1997, when as Washington’s quarterback he decided to celebrate a rushing touchdown ... by head-butting a padded wall in the end zone.
Though he was able to start the next week, Frerotte has said he still had people asking him about the play 20 years later.
Nate Burleson’s pizza problem
Nate Burleson is now an insightful NFL Network analyst, but six years ago he was a receiver for the Detroit Lions with a love of pizza.
In September 2013, Burleson was driving his GMC Yukon when he got into a single-car accident as he was trying to adjust a pizza box falling off his passenger’s seat.
Burleson broke his arm in two places, missing seven games in what would be his final NFL season.
Turk Edwards done in by the coin toss
We have to go back a long time for this one: 1940, to be exact. Albert “Turk” Edwards was an offensive tackle with Washington, and was at midfield for the coin toss before a game with the New York Giants.
After the toss, Edwards spun back toward the sideline, but his cleats caught in the grass and his knee buckled. The injury would end Edwards’ career, though he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
Chris Hanson chops his season down
The Jacksonville Jaguars were off to a bad start in 2003, so Jack Del Rio, the team’s first-year head coach, tried a motivational ploy: he put the stump of an oak tree and an axe in the locker room, a reminder that players should “keep choppin’ wood.”
Hanson, the team’s Pro Bowl punter, took a swing, lost control of the ax, and injured his right foot so badly he missed the last 11 games of the season.
LaRon Landry and the paintball trip gone wrong
In 2007, LaRon Landry was a rookie with Washington when coach Joe Gibbs allowed players to leave early after a June workout. Landry joined many of his defensive teammates on an outing to a paintball facility.
Landry took a shot to the groin that rendered him unable to take part in the first practice of minicamp a couple of days later, though the injury didn’t linger; he started all 16 games that season.
Owen Schmitt, oh my
Fullback Owen Schmitt and the rest of the offense were introduced before a 3009 Seattle Seahawks game against Jacksonville. Trying to hype up himself and the crowd, Schmitt inexplicably smashed his own helmet against his head, opening a huge gash on his head. You can watch video here.
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