Bizarre Sport special: five of the weirdest injuries

Whilst injuries are an unfortunate consequence of participation in sport, sometimes you hear of stories that really push the limits of your imagination.  As commonplace as injuries are, sometimes there are stories that are so bizarre, so strange that they merit plenty of attention. Below is a list of five of the strangest injuries to have made the news:

1) Every team has one. The player that always over celebrates. The player that really likes to make a fool of himself. However Bill Gramatica of the Miami Dolphins took public humiliation to a new level during one game. After successfully slotting a kick and deciding to celebrate like he had just won the Super Bowl, Gramatica leapt high in the air and promptly tore his anterior cruciate ligament on landing. Safe to say Bill wasn’t celebrating again anytime soon.

2) It also not a great idea to celebrate prematurely, advice golfer Bobby Cruickshank would have done well to remember during the 1934 U.S. Open. Cruickshank fluffed his shot on the 11^th hole, sending it into a creek, yet remarkably the ball bounced off a rock and landed perfectly on the green.  With Booby leading by eight shots and clearly thinking it must be his tournament he allowed himself a small celebration. What happened next is a crash course in how not to protect a lead.  Cruickshank joyously tossed his club in the air but to his display on the way down it hit him in the head and knocked him unconscious. After coming to, Bobby managed to finish the tournament but bogeyed several of the remaining holes and could only tie for third.

3) Not one for the faint hearted, Rugby League player Paul Wood suffered an injury that evoked great sympathy from men all across the world. Early in the second half of the Grand Final, Wood was on the receiving end of a stray knee which resulted in Paul rupturing one of his testicles. Remarkably Wood managed to carry on playing for twenty minutes, keeping up the hard man stigma attached to Rugby League. After the game Paul had to have his testicle removed.  For most, losing half your manhood and the Super League Grand Final in one day would leave you feeling very down but Wood was even able to joke after the operation, posting on twitter: “Just coming out the hospital to go home… Seriously feel like I’ve left something?” That’s a real man.

4) Step forward David Seaman who proved that harm can happen off the pitch as well as on it. The former England goalkeeper, who played over four hundred times for Arsenal, remained largely injury-free in his stellar career but suffered a rather embarrassing moment when at home. Whilst relaxing at home, Seaman managed to pull a muscle in his back just by reaching for the television remote which side lined him for a number of weeks.  Strangely, whilst playing for Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Letizi suffered the same injury whilst reaching for a Scrabble piece he dropped.  Reports suggest the Scrabble game was called off soon after.

5) While kids all over the country are taught of the benefits of effective communication on a football pitch, aspiring footballers should do well to avoid the example of Alex Stepney. The former Manchester United goalkeeper managed to break his jaw after yelling so loudly. Speechless.