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Joe DeMartino, ESPN EditorDec 28, 2023, 01:30 PM ET
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Joined ESPN in 2006
Massachusetts native, Northwestern graduate
Sports is a rough business, with players putting their bodies on the line every time they suit up. Injuries are inevitable just from the mere act of participating in the game. But sometimes, players have to miss time for the most peculiar reasons.
That’s what Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon is experiencing right now, as he needed 21 stitches after suffering lacerations to his face and right shooting hand while being bitten by a family dog on Christmas. Gordon’s absence is expected to be short, but it’s still a scary experience for anyone, and it’s good that he’s on the mend.
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Gordon now joins a bizarre club: athletes who were injured in extremely odd ways. From off-field accidents to celebrations gone wrong, here’s a list of the strangest ways players have missed time over the past 20 years.
BILL GRAMATICA
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While playing for the Arizona Cardinals in 2001, Bill Gramatica hit a routine field goal to put his team up 3-0 in the first quarter of a mid-December matchup against the New York Giants. The place-kicker jumped up in celebration, landed awkwardly and tore his ACL. “I couldn’t tell you right now what I’m going to do,” Gramatica said about his celebrations a few months later, “but I know it’s not going to be jumping around.”
CHRIS HANSON
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Looking to fire up his team, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Jack del Rio brought an ax and an oak stump into the locker room to remind the squad to “keep choppin’ wood.” Jaguars punter Chris Hanson accidentally gashed himself while wielding the axe, and he missed the remainder of the 2003 season as a result.
SAMMY SOSA
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Sammy Sosa hit 35 home runs for the Chicago Cubs in 2004, but the moment many people remember from that season was when he strained his back from sneezing too hard.
CLINT BARMES
Hunter…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27340270/weirdest-sports-injuries
Author : Joe DeMartino
Publish date : 2023-12-28 18:58:42
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