The 25 Most Gruesome Injuries in Sports History

When you play sports, you always run the risk of getting an injury. When you play at the highest level, at top speed and intensity, you run the risk of getting an injury so gruesome that it's hard to watch.

I have compiled a list of the 25 most gruesome injuries in sports history. There are some out there I left off only because I couldn't find a clip of, or I already had too many videos of someone's leg snapping in half. Needless to say This slideshow is not for the faint of heart. The pictures and videos may be difficult to see. Proceed at your own risk.

No. 25: Renzo Gracie Gets His Arm Broken, Hardly Seems To Care

The MMA is so violent and intense that you're almost surprised when there's not a gruesome injury at some point. However, some are worse than others.

In this highly anticipated Pride fight, Renzo Gracie watches as his arm gets bent in a way that it's just not supposed to bend, and hardly seems worried. Don't let his face fool you, though, in the video after his injury he explains it was the worst pain he's ever felt. He's just tougher than you.

No. 24: Mary Pierce Tears Her ACL

Still, she's got nothing on most of these men. If her leg snapped in half, then I wonder what kind of screams we'd be hearing.

No. 23: Derrick Roland Breaks His Ankle

To get the full gist of how bad this injury was, just watch Roland's teammate and friend who sees it happen, then has to run down the floor and finish the play before basically collapsing at the sight.

It was an innocent enough play, but the result was enough to shake that kid bad.

No. 22: Anquan Boldin Breaks His Face

This needs a couple of viewings to properly appreciate. We see bad hits in the NFL all the time, so sometimes it's difficult to properly appreciate one like this.

Boldin gets hit hard from both sides. Just one player on their own would have done damage, but two basically sandwiching him broke his freaking face. Seriously.

No. 21: Jason Kendall Snaps His Ankle

If Major League Baseball wasn't such a buzzkill, we'd have footage of this. But if you'll look closely at the picture, you'll see why I added this.

Yes, that is his bone coming out of his sock. (Shudders)

No. 20: Ryan Powdrell Breaks His Leg

This was just as bad as it looked. Thankfully Powdrell was able to come back after this, but he was never the same. Now he's a free agent in the NFL hoping to get his chance again. Who knows what could have been had this never happened.

No. 19: Long Jumper Hit By A Javelin

Track and Field might be the least dangerous sport out there, but you couldn't say that about this day. Some over eager javelin thrower was way off and ended up sticking a long jumper in his side.

To his credit, the guy seemed to handle it well. It can't be very settling to suddenly have a large spear sticking out of you. It must be something like this.

No. 18: Rick Ankiel Almost Breaks His Neck

One of the most painful things that is infinitely worse than it looks on TV is running into the outfield wall at full speed. It's bad enough hitting it flat, but Rick Ankiel went in head first and almost broke his neck.

Don't you love how the guy tugs on his shirt then ultimately is like "well, I've got to throw this ball back in..."

Rick Ankiel Slams Face First Into The Outfield Wall - Watch more Funny Videos

No. 17: Djibril Cisse Snaps His Ankle

There are precious few times in a man's life when he's allowed to cry. When your leg does something like this, that counts as one of those times. Which is why I found it odd when the announcers kept calling him a sissy.

(Wait for it...yep, there it is.)

No. 16: Allen Ray Almost Loses An Eye

This one was much worse than it looked. Ray was able to come back without any serious repercussions from the injury. But, I mean, his freaking eye came out of his head.

I think the zoomed in, slow motion video shows enough reason why this is on here.

No. 15: Jessica Dube Hit With A Skate

This is one of those things that you think about, but you never expect it to happen. When two figure skaters are twirling around on the ice, you go "they're getting awfully close to each other, isn't this a little bit dangerous?"

Only, when what you fear actually happens, you feel like a jerk for even thinking it. Seeing her head jerk back and she gets hit by a twirling skate... it's hard to watch.

No. 14: John Terry Gets Kicked In The Face

All I can say is: this is why I don't play soccer.

No. 13: Bryce Florie Hit By A Line Drive

I did this one time to my neighbor in our back yard as a kid, but somehow I suspect that the ball was traveling a lot slower both ways. This is the kind of thing pitchers have to just completely put out of their mind, because if they start to worry about it, they're done.

Man, his face got jacked up after that. My neighbor was fine because he had braces that kept his teeth in. Lucky kid.

No. 12: Unknown Soccer Player Gets His Foot Turned Around

I don't know who this guy is, maybe some of you soccer buffs out there will, but I'm a sucker for injuries that turn things the wrong way. If my right foot was suddenly pointed at my right elbow, I think I'd be just a little bit freaked out.

No. 11: Carlos Beltran & Mike Cameron Collide

If Player A is traveling towards the ball at a speed of 15 mph and Player B is 100 feet away traveling at 17 mph, just how sickening will the impact be when they collide face-first?

Answer below.

No. 10: Patrick Edwards Snaps His Leg

Sometimes injuries are caused by things outside of the field of play. Like in this instance, a Houston WR is going full speed for a ball and ends up crashing knee-first into a trailer of some sort. That effectively snaps his leg.

Kids, this is exactly why your parents tell you not to leave your toys laying around. Or...something like that.

No. 9: Oupa Ngulube Gets His Leg Stomped In Half

Yes, another reason why I don't play soccer. With guys jamming their feet around trying to kick the same ball, things like this are going to happen. And this isn't just a freak accident. It's happened more than once. Don't believe me?

No. 8: Marcin Wasilewski Gets His Leg Stomped In Half

Bam. That just happened again. It's rough when you see your ankle hold up just about as well as a cardboard box that you're stomping in.

No. 7: Willis McGahee Breaks His Leg

Everyone remembers this one. National championship game, Miami's best player Willis McGahee takes helmet to the knee, which responds by staying in place while the rest of his body keeps moving forward.

Don't you hate when one part of you doesn't go along with the rest of you?

No. 6: Shaun Livingston Breaks His Leg

Here's another one from my time. Promising young point guard Shaun Livingston goes up for a routine layup and when he comes down his leg just completely goes out from under him.

That picture looks fairly tame until you take a little bit of a closer look at his left knee. Oof.

No. 5: LT Breaks Joe Theismann's Leg

Here's one that anybody over 40 remembers very, very clearly. Joe Theismann's leg breaking. Boom. Career over.

People kind of thought at the time that it was mostly a result of LT being on the field, but as we've seen, it can happen to anybody anywhere.

No. 4: Sid Vicious Breaks His Leg

Say all you want that wrestling isn't a sport, but you have to admit that the wrestlers face just as much risk of injury as any other athlete. Maybe even more. I don't seem to recall any NBA players jumping off a scorers table and doing this to their leg. That's just a little worse than Shaun Livingston, wouldn't you say?

No. 3: Kickboxer Gets Messed Up

Another anonymous guy, but this is just brutal to watch. When he doesn't realize that his leg is broken and goes to stand on it... it's enough to bring your lunch up.

To me he looks like one of the aliens from Independence Day the way he tries to stand on that mangled leg. Anybody else?

No. 2: Napoleon McCallum Breaks His Leg

This one is sick to watch. On MNF, Napoleon McCallum is getting tacked, sticks his foot into the ground which stays there and the rest of him gets flipped over. The announcers don't even know what to do with themselves.

"Oh Lord. Don't look at it if you don't want to see it."

Thanks guys, great advice. Seriously, though, don't look at it if you don't want to see it.

No. 1: Clint Malarchuk Gets His Throat Slit

In my highly professional opinion, it doesn't get any worse than this. Goalie Clint Calarchuk gets his throat slit by a skate and starts bleeding out all over the ice. It's horrible to watch. It's like seeing a man about to die.

Amazingly, a trainer pinches the artery shut until the paramedics come, and Malarchuk is back on the ice something like ten games later. But all that blood on the ice...it's the most gruesome injury I have ever seen.