Whose career-altering/ending injury do you remember?

Careers altered by injury:

Most famous of all has to be Lou Gehrig. After all, his playing streak was ended by his condition.
Grant Hill
Kevin Brown - name the injury, it changed his career. lol punching things
Mike Utley - Lions lineman paralyzed in game
Kerry Wood

 

Sirs, Madames,

Two at random:

Worked the Buffalo-Pittsburgh game when Pat Lafontaine went lights out with his head down at the Pens blueline (some big Quebecois defenceman of no great distinction with a clean knockout). Effectively done after that.

I was in attendance for two of Alyn McCauley's concussions (Oshawa for one, Sheldon Souray the worst at the ACC)--still pretty good, but I still think he'd have taken it to another level if he hadn't been scrambled (or played through them in junior).

Tony Fernandez eating a fastball (Cecilio Guante, I think) versus Texas. Never as good after that (and he was still pretty good).

YHS, etc

 

Those of us old enough to remember the Affirmed-Alydar (sp?) match race might disagree.

 

The 1997 season opener between the Bucs and 49ers. Warren Sapp knocked both Steve Young and Jerry Rice out of the game, Rice with an ACL injury. They both came back and played later in the season, I think, but they were never the same. That dynasty ended that day.

 

Who was the hockey player who had a pretty scary seizure after a hit to the head? It's not McCauley, but it's another one of the concussion-what-might-have-been stories. I think he's still in the NHL though.

 

Jiri Fischer (Red Wings) last season?
Or Donald Brashear after being hit by Marty McSorley?

 

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/disarmed.htm

 

Jeff Beukeboom's career ended after taking a cheap shot punch to the back of the head from Matt Johnson during a Rangers-Kings game in 1998. If memory serves, the league didn't punish Johnson.

 

I believe that was Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure. Ruffian broke down on the backstretch and I don't recall any gruesome shots of the injury. Go For Wand fell right near the wire and that was very ugly.

 

Need to get a "me too" in there on this one. I was shaken up for weeks after that.

 

Rod Woodson's blown ACL, when Barry Sanders juked him right out of his health. My friend and I diagnosed that from the upper deck at Three Rivers.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Duk Koo Kim ... he was trying to get up but then collapsed and died in his bout with Ray Mancini. Over-matched and wouldn't quit.

YHS, etc