10 Sports Injuries That Changed Everything

10 Injuries That Changed the Sport Forever

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at ten incredibly rough injuries that ended up changing the face of their sport forever.

Joe Theismann’s Monday Night Football Leg Fracture

So much can change in just one short play, and there are few athletes in American sports history who understand that as well as Joe Theismann. In a nationally televised Monday Night Football game, he suffered compound fractures to his tibia and fibula after being sacked by Lawrence Taylor. It was a horrific injury, and it brought his playing career to an untimely end. In response, the NFL accelerated changes to on-field medical responses, player safety, and protection rules. Although Theismann’s career was done, he thankfully went on to enjoy success as a broadcaster.

Derrick Rose’s ACL Tear and Chicago’s Lost Championship Era

Nothing can be taken as a certainty in high-level sports, and even players with huge potential can be thrown off course by injuries. For Derrick Rose, that’s exactly what happened. In 2012, just as he was seemingly coming into his own as a star for the Bulls, he suffered a knee injury. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with a Grade 3 ACL tear, requiring reconstructive surgery. This drastically altered his career path and made the dangers of overloading star players crystal clear to NBA franchises. In the years that followed, NBA teams dramatically expanded investments in biomechanics departments, minute tracking, wearable monitoring technology, and individualised recovery programs. For Rose, it was a major hindrance, but overall, his loss had a positive impact on the game.

Clint Malarchuk’s Throat Injury and Hockey Safety Reform

While the 2011 hit on Sidney Crosby that caused modern concussion protocol reform deserves a mention, our final pick here stands alone. The danger of skating on ice with literal blades attached to your feet doesn’t cause quite as many issues in hockey as you might expect. Clint Malarchuk was unfortunate enough to be the exception. During an NHL game, another player’s skate blade accidentally sliced Malarchuk’s jugular vein, causing massive bleeding on the ice and traumatising players, fans, and broadcasters. Thankfully, he survived, but from that point on, protective measures were taken, including improvements to neck shielding and emergency medical readiness One near-catastrophic injury was enough for the NHL to know that the time for action had come.

Dale Earnhardt’s Daytona Crash and NASCAR’s Safety Revolution

Any sport that loses one of its biggest stars to a competitive fatality is going to be an earth-shattering event. NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt died from a basilar skull fracture after his vehicle hit a wall, intensifying scrutiny over the organisation’s long-standing resistance to mandatory safety technology. However, NASCAR did not immediately mandate the eventual head and neck support or ‘HANS’ devices after Earnhardt’s death. The actual mandate came on October 17, 2001, not long after another driver, Blaise Alexander, was killed in an ARCA crash at Charlotte on October 4, 2001.

Monica Seles’ Stabbing and the Transformation of Tennis Security

Although we’ve covered a lot of injuries and fatalities that have come directly from the sport itself, what happened to Monica Seles was quite different. In the middle of what seemed to be a regular game, a crazed fan of Seles’ rival Steffi Graf ran onto the court and stabbed the tennis star with a knife. It was an attack that was so out of left field that it left everyone utterly stunned. Seles recovered from her physical injuries, but did not return to pro-tennis for another two years, citing the mental toll the ordeal had taken on her. The sport had primarily employed light security up to that point, but precautions became a lot tighter after this truly bizarre and unfortunate event.

Tommy John Surgery and the Transformation of Baseball Medicine

The effect that the death of Ray Chapman in 1920 had on the sport of baseball cannot be understated, as it remains the only in-game death of an MLB player to this day. However, in terms of lasting impact, the experimental elbow surgery that saved Tommy John from retirement completely changed the sport. For pitchers in the 1970s and before, any serious elbow injury was very likely to be seen as a career-ender. When that exact fate befell Tommy John in 1974, though, he decided to undergo an experimental ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction performed by Dr. Frank Jobe. It worked, and immediately provided seemingly doomed players with a lifeline against this catastrophic injury.

Marc-Vivien Foé’s Collapse and Football’s Cardiac Screening Push

In a 2003 Confederations Cup showdown with Colombia, Marc-Vivien Foé was the victim of one of the most shocking and sudden tragedies in modern football. One minute, he was playing and performing quite normally, before, out of nowhere, he dropped to the ground. An undiagnosed case of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy had caused him to lose consciousness before he later passed away. He was 28-years-old. In response, FIFA, UEFA, and national football federations significantly expanded cardiac screening programs for professional players. To this day, clubs take a far more determined and consistent approach to monitoring the health of these athletes.

Ayrton Senna’s Fatal Crash and Formula One’s Safety Overhaul

Even though Niki Lauda’s near-fatal crash in 1976 had a major ripple effect, losing the legendary Ayrton Senna at the peak of his powers was something truly different. In 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix, while leading the race, Senna’s car left the track, colliding at high speed with the barrier, killing him. His fellow driver, Roland Ratzenberger, had already lost his life in another collision that weekend, making it perhaps the darkest three day period in F1 history. It stood as a major wake-up call for the sport, setting in motion redesigns of tracks, cockpits, and the entire medical infrastructure behind the scenes.

Bill Masterton’s Fatal Injury and Hockey’s Slow March Toward Mandatory Helmets

To this day, only one player in NHL history has died as a result of injuries sustained on the ice. Back in the 1960s, the attitude of players towards wearing protective helmets was rooted in a culture of stubborn toughness. In other words, many saw it as unnecessary. In 1968, Minnesota North Stars centre Bill Masterton struck his head on the ice following a collision. He lost consciousness and died soon after. This understandably sent a tremor through the world of ice hockey, causing more players to volunteer to wear protective headgear. It would not be mandatory until 1979, but this was clearly the moment that set this chain of events into motion.

The 1955 Le Mans Disaster

When it comes to discussions about the most horrific moments in sports, the 1955 Le Mans disaster always has an especially tragic spot. A mid-race collision caused the car of driver Pierre Levegh to fly into the crowd, causing a scene of total destruction that left an estimated 82 or 84 people dead. Up to that point, there were minimal barriers and general protections in place to shield members of the general public who were spectating. It exposed just how unprepared the world of motorsports was on several different levels. Overhauls to vehicle safety, track layouts, pit-lane procedures, and a wide range of other general precautions followed. Racing before and after the Le Mans disaster of 1955 were two very different things.

But what do you consider the most devastating injury in the history of sports? Let us know in the comments below.