Dear Athletes, Please Stop Tweeting Gross Injury Pics

Eric NewmanJun 7, 2018

We follow you on Twitter because we admire you. If you're injured, we'd like to hear how you're feeling. We'd like to know about the sympathy notes you get from teammates, celebrities, WAGS.

If you feel compelled to describe your injuries, do so with the notion that as much as 30 percent of all children (and almost as many adults) fear the sight of blood, and about three percent of the population have blood fear on a phobic level.

So, this is fine: "I cut my hand."

But this is bad: "A skate blade lacerated my hand, cutting through the subcutaneous layers and severing an extensor tendon."

Got it? If you absolutely cannot resist providing a few details, make sure not to tweet a picture of your injury!

To you, it's a war wound, a badge of honor, proof of total commitment; we get that. But to us, well...it's just gross.

Note to readers: This slideshow contains several graphic images of sports injuries. The most gruesome have links provided.

Christian Ponder's Bursitis

1 of 21

Dear Christian,

Your arm looks like a rabid cat mistook it for a scratching post. And why are you smiling as you look at it? Don't you know that this striated flesh canvas will keep you from starting in the Wild Card Game and that your Vikings will get spanked without you? What's funny about that?

OK, so we know it wasn't you who actually tweeted this; it was Shari Gross of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. But come on. What did you think she'd do with the picture?

Nastiness Rating: 2/10

Anthony Davis' Runaway Finger

2 of 21

Hi Anthony! How have you been, pal?

That's pretty awesome that you played the entire second half of a game with a busted finger. Thanks for having the tact not to tweet out a flesh-and-blood pic of your relocated digit.

But this X-ray is still proof that we didn't need. Save it for the personal scrap book next time, OK?

Nastiness Rating: 3/10

Kris Humphries' Scratches

3 of 21

Dear Kris,

Honestly, these scratches from your dance with Rajon Rondo don't really disgust us. But the whining does a little bit.

Nastiness Rating: 2/10

Kris Commons' Extra Knee

4 of 21

Kris,

Man, what a brutal foul you took to the leg. Ouch! We feel for you, old chap. We do.

But that extra bony kneecap on the side of your leg is gross. It looks like the alien from Alien got lost on its way out of your stomach and will instead erupt through your thigh.

Good luck with that. Don't keep us posted.

Nastiness Rating: 3/10

Drayton Florence's Post-Surgery X-Ray

5 of 21

Dear Drayton,

Looks like the medical team did a top-notch job mending that forearm break from your heroics in the game against the 49ers.

Because this is an X-ray, and because the bone had already been set, I think we're OK with it. That said, it doesn't do a whole lot for us in the way of mustering up sympathy.

It doesn't take a public-relations expert to figure out how to tug at heart strings. How about just a nice picture of you in the cast sitting on the couch with your kids instead?

Nastiness Rating: 1/10

Taylor Hall's Zombie Face

6 of 21

Dearest Taylor,

We're really bummed about you catching that skate to the face in practice. We can't imagine the awful pain you experienced.

This picture, though...it's too much. Couldn't you have tweeted out a picture of the unmaimed right side of your face instead. You could have captioned it something like, "well, half of me is still here."

Oh, and do as your mother says: Wear a helmet, even during practice.

Nastiness Rating: 6/10

Sami Lepisto's Leg After Slap Shot

7 of 21

Dear Sami,

Blocking that slap shot showed some fine sports gumption. But really, we could do without the close up of your purple leg of horror.

It looks like marbled blueberry cheesecake, and now one of our favorite desserts is ruined forever.

Nastiness Rating: 4/10

Arian Foster's MRI

8 of 21

Hey Arian,

This MRI photo you tweeted out...well, most of us aren't doctors, so it's kind of meaningless. Is this a shot of a hamstring that is totally shredded? Or is it barely scratched? Is it even a hamstring?

Anyway, when fans panicked and thought you might be out of commission for a while, you tweeted: "If I had a 'significant injury' why post it?"

OK, but no need to post an insignificant injury either, right?

Nastiness Rating: 1/10

Chipper Jones' Contusion

9 of 21

Dear Chipper,

You had an illustrious major league career that lasted almost two decades. You have nothing to prove to us fans.

You took that B.J. Upton cannon shot to the leg like a trooper; just another example of your toughness.

But this tweeted pic is way too much information. And purple is not your best color.

Nastiness Rating: 4/10

John Cena's Surgery Scars

10 of 21

Hi John,

Wrestling is a lot of fun to watch, and dude, you've got some great moves. That Attitude Adjustment you delivered to Kane...priceless.

But when your arm began to lock up, you could have just let us fans know that you were having some issues and that doctors were working on it.

This picture and all the details about bone chips and such, well...too much.

Nastiness Rating: 2/10

Amar'e Stoudemire's Stitches

11 of 21

Dear Amar'e,

At first, we thought you were tweeting us a closeup picture of the seam on a baseball. When we realized this is in fact your hand, we couldn't help but both gag and laugh.

Next time you want to vent frustration, how about punching a teddy bear instead of a fire extinguisher. We would be far less mortified to see a picture of your hand covered in stuffed-animal lint.

Keep it in mind, anyway. OK?

Nastiness Rating: 5/10

Forrest Griffin's Franken-Knee

12 of 21

Forrest,

We can only agree with J. Jones of Cage Potato when he writes that your injury resembles a hollowed-out bowling pin stuffed with rancid cottage cheese.

We guess you were trying to prove that you weren't faking an injury to get out of the UFC 155 bout with Phil Davis. But you know, there is a certain kind of documentation that exists. It's called a medical report. How about tweeting that out instead of this gooey mess?

We know you'll understand and do the right thing next time.

Nastiness Rating: 8/10

J.P. Joubert's Skull Fracture in 3D

13 of 21

J.P.,

Pretty slick fight between you and Norman Wessels in the EFC Africa light heavyweight championship.

It was impressive how you came back to win by TKO after taking such a pummeling. Even more amazing later when you (and we) learned those early-round blows fractured your skull.

But you need to hear something important, Bull. Images of skulls are for Halloween and pirate ships. We don't want a glimpse of your mortality—let alone your slightly shattered mortality. It's depressing.

Nastiness Rating: 5/10

Wayne Rooney's Bandaged Leg

14 of 21

Wazza!

You have shown some true class. This is how to tweet out an injury photo. All the gore has been neatly mopped up—even the bandage is bloodstain free.

Had you wanted to, you could have really and truly laid out the gruesomeness, right? We read in the Daily Mail that the gash on your leg was "so severe that it astounded surgeons." Yet you kept the image to yourself. Kudos!

We thank you from the bottom of our non-queasy stomachs, Wayne.

Nastiness Rating: 0/10

Urijah Faber's Elephant Leg

15 of 21

Hiya Urijah,

Tom Ngo of Fifth Round described your fight against Jose Aldo at WEC 48 well when we wrote:

"
Aldo unleashed a thrashing on Faber’s lead leg throughout the scrap – specifically in the opening rounds – battering it to the point that it forced the hometown hero to fight the championship rounds on just one leg.
"

Watching the fight, we all had the idea that your leg would be pretty banged up afterward. But this bloated purple pachyderm leg is beyond anything we imagined.

Nastiness Rating: 5/10

Brandon McCarthy's Head Scar

16 of 21

Dear Brandon,

We all saw and cringed at that line drive from Erick Aybar. It was a truly terrifying moment when that ball smacked into your head.

Glad to hear that you are engaged in a friendly Twitter battle with your beloved.

We understand that she was the one who tweeted out this scar picture, so we won't hold you culpable.

Nastiness Rating: 2/10

A Glimpse Inside R-Truth's Leg

17 of 21

Dear R-Truth,

Wrestling is supposed to be fake, so what's this all about? There is nothing fake about that gaping chasm in the skin on your leg you tweeted out.

Don't think a Band-Aid will quite do it for that one, amigo. Not even a whole box of them.

Nastiness Rating: 7/10

Willie Young's Gruesome Finger

18 of 21

Hi Willie,

If that injury you sustained last fall was so heinous that you considered lopping off your finger, why would you even consider sharing it?

Many of us check our Twitter accounts over lunch. And let us tell you, seeing your finger cut to the bone does not make it easy to chomp on carrot sticks or sink our teeth into a Buffalo wing.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

Nastiness Rating: 6/10

Miguel Torres' Split Forehead

19 of 21

Miguel,

Looks like Joseph Benavidez worked you over at WEC 47. Sure was bloody. We all hope you are back in the cage soon.

Wish we could let you off at that, but we really need to call you out on something. Gashes are ugly. Gashes right in the middle of a forehead are especially ugly. Gashes with a gleaming white bone at the bottom of them are just plain horrific.

Sure, any MMA fan has a certain tolerance for blood, but this is way, way beyond what we expect. Have some consideration and at least wait until the stitches are in.

Nastiness Rating: 8/10