- 9 months ago
The NFL is known for its incredible athleticism, hard-hitting action, and unforgettable moments—but sometimes, the game turns from thrilling to terrifying in an instant. In this video, we’re counting down the 20 most terrifying moments in NFL history—from shocking on-field injuries and near-death experiences to tragic events that shook the football world.
We’ll revisit chilling incidents like Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, Joe Theismann’s career-ending leg injury, and Kevin Everett’s spinal cord trauma, as well as moments of violence, fan chaos, and eerie premonitions that left players and fans in disbelief.
We’ll revisit chilling incidents like Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, Joe Theismann’s career-ending leg injury, and Kevin Everett’s spinal cord trauma, as well as moments of violence, fan chaos, and eerie premonitions that left players and fans in disbelief.
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00:00These are the 20 most terrifying moments in NFL history.
00:04Oh my goodness!
00:05And he's still on the turf.
00:08And he's not moving.
00:09And at number 20, Trevor Lawrence's safe slide turned into the most terrifying play of the year.
00:14Represents that one.
00:15Oh my, that'll be Al Shire.
00:17And that's going to start a little bit of a scrum afterwards.
00:20But at number 19, even the coaches weren't safe from the danger.
00:23See, Sean McVay was on the sidelines, but he almost got his head knocked off clean.
00:26Take a look one more time.
00:28And the headset knocked off hit on the left side of that jaw.
00:32Yeah, even the sidelines get violent.
00:34I mean, at number 18, they almost went up in flames.
00:37Look, Tennessee lost control of their fire machines and nearly burnt the stadium to a crisp.
00:41Now they had every reason to be terrified.
00:43And Eric Berry's nightmare was something you wouldn't believe.
00:45Because one of the most ferocious safeties of all time was running from his scariest match yet.
00:50Hold up, hold that horse out there.
00:52You need to go ahead with that horse now.
00:53I don't fool with no horses, boy.
00:55I ain't worried about the chicken.
00:57Don't worry about the horse.
00:58Dude had no reason to be so dramatic.
01:00But this next fan at number 16 took it to the next level.
01:03See, a group of kids were trying to get some autographs when security warned them that it could get dangerous.
01:07Yeah, good job!
01:12Jesus Christ!
01:14Go back to your seats!
01:15Everybody back to your seats!
01:17This kid just failed!
01:18Back to your seats!
01:19Yeah, get him on!
01:20Get him on!
01:20But Deshaun Warden had more to do than just play a game.
01:23Because he turned into a hero.
01:25I just kind of pushed him into the stands a little bit to brace his fall because I seen him coming down head first.
01:31That kid was going head first into a tragedy.
01:33But Gary Kubiak wasn't so lucky.
01:35Because at number 15, we've got a moment that had an entire stadium holding its breath.
01:39I mean, Coach Gary Kubiak almost didn't make it off the field alive.
01:42See, the Texans were playing the Colts.
01:44And when the teams were headed for their locker rooms at halftime, Kubiak collapsed.
01:48Coach was taken off on a stretcher and was rushed to the hospital with everyone afraid he was having a heart attack.
01:52Luckily, the doctors worked fast.
01:54And it turned out Kubiak had suffered a stroke and narrowly escaped the tragedy.
01:57But while Kubiak got a second chance, the Bengals were so shaken at number 14, they thought it was game over.
02:03See, Mike Hilton replaced the Bengals' mannequin and had his teammates seen ghosts.
02:06Now, that got scary.
02:13But what happened at number 13 was no joke.
02:15See, Rashad Johnson made one of the most terrifying bloody messes in NFL history.
02:19And it all started with a routine play until he lost a piece of his body.
02:23We punt the ball down, and I'm going to cover it.
02:26Darren Sproles is the returner.
02:28Sproles on the return of the punt by Zastonville.
02:32Breaks a couple tackles.
02:33I initiate a blocker, and in that moment when I initiate him, I just shed away and go in to make the tackle.
02:39Now he knew something was wrong immediately.
02:41When he got to the sideline, he found out something was missing.
02:44Pain is getting worse.
02:46And I look down, and before I know it, my white glove is fire hot red.
02:50It's blood everywhere.
02:52I come off the field, you know, just thinking like, hey, maybe I lost the nail.
02:56Maybe, you know, something happened there.
02:57They've taken the glove off, thrown it in the trash can, and from my nail portion up in my left middle finger, it's completely severed.
03:05My man was shocked, but he was still missing the rest of his finger.
03:08And just when he thought it couldn't get worse, the trainers had to dig through the trash can looking for the missing piece.
03:13They look down in the trash can, they dig, and they pull it out, and the glove is still intact.
03:17You know, it's normal.
03:18They're like, well, let's just cut on up the finger and see.
03:20And they cut up the finger, and it just falls right there on the table.
03:24Now, this would have been enough to make me retire, but Rashad showed that he was built different.
03:28Because he would do surgery and suit it up to play the very next week.
03:32I was kind of at that point, like, let's just go and let's just shave it back and keep it going.
03:36I don't think I want to try and reattach.
03:38And if that wasn't enough, Rashad turned the whole thing into a movement, showing the world what it means to turn pain into power.
03:45The guy made t-shirts saying that he got nine more fingers, and everybody wore it under their shoulder pads for the rest of the year and all of that.
03:53Yeah, Rashad came back stronger.
03:54But at number 12, imagine almost being left with permanent brain damage.
03:58See, Austin Colley suffered head trauma?
04:00That didn't just change his career.
04:01It changed the entire NFL's approach to player safety forever.
04:04Now, Colley quickly became one of Peyton Manning's favorite weapons.
04:07One play against the Eagles left him knocked out cold.
04:10The sight of Colley motionless sparked concern across the nation.
04:20But just weeks later, he returned to the exact same horrors.
04:25And just like that, Colley was out for the rest of the year and was never the same player again.
04:31And I don't know if I'd be the same player if I had to play through what's at number 11.
04:35I'm talking about when players had to play the biggest game of the season in the worst weather in NFL history.
04:40The pitcher reached down to negative 14 degrees, leaving fans and players at risk for frostbite.
04:44This is the one game in my whole life that I did not want to play.
04:47And mine came in at my toes.
04:50And it's almost like your circulation has stopped.
04:53And in these conditions, players' equipment were frozen, referee whistles were even broken, and they had to yell for the whole game.
04:59Green Bay took the title with a 21-17 dogfight.
05:02But the worst of it all was that one fan froze to death.
05:05And even with that type of tragedy, there still isn't a limit to the temperature NFL players play in.
05:09Yeah, the NFL could care less about players freezing to death.
05:12But at number 10, we've got to talk about the most terrifying fan ever seen.
05:15See, this is Chiefsaholic.
05:17And he became the Chiefs' biggest superfan by becoming an outlaw.
05:20I mean, this dude was on the front row in his wolf costume in every home game and away game.
05:24And had his own fans on social media.
05:25But one game against the Texans in Houston, Chiefsaholic was nowhere to be found.
05:29And this had the Chiefs fans worried.
05:31But hours after the game, a Bixby Texas news station reported that a man in a wolf costume was arrested for robbing people at gunpoint.
05:37A Bixby bank robbery is getting a ton of attention because Kansas City Chiefs fans are convinced the suspect in the Tulsa County Jail is a popular Chiefs superfan.
05:47The superfan who fans think robbed the bank is known as Chiefsaholic.
05:52He attends almost every game.
05:53But when he didn't make it to the Chiefs in Texas game last Sunday, fans were worried.
05:57So they took to social media to get to the bottom of it.
06:00And then realized they might have found his mugshot.
06:02And fans recognized who that was immediately.
06:05See, after some further investigation into Javier Babidar, it turned out he was hiding even more.
06:09Because he went through seven states and completed 11 bank robberies for a total of $847,000.
06:16Yeah, that was enough for this dude to be put behind bars for 17 years.
06:19Dude was a monster under that mask.
06:21But at number nine, David Njoku was hiding behind a mask too.
06:24See, it was the middle of the 2023 NFL season when a simple meditation session in front of the fire almost left David fried.
06:31Setting up the bonfire and I ran out of my normal lighter fluid that I used to soak the wood.
06:35So I used this other one.
06:36It was a spray instead of like one that you pour.
06:38I sprayed it down, waited a little bit, and I guess the lighter fluid was still in the air.
06:42So when I lit it up, it just exploded.
06:44And this wasn't just a regular injury.
06:46Because his second degree burns throughout his body was the worst anyone could go through.
06:50I diagnosed it as about a 17-18% total body surface area burn of second degree partial thickness.
06:57Probably the most painful burn you could have.
06:59My recommendation was just to not play.
07:01But it was just days before the Browns played their division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.
07:06So this game was personal.
07:07However, he still looked like he came straight out of a fire.
07:10So he came to the game with his face hidden.
07:12Yeah, bro was still going through it.
07:13But once the ball kicked off, Njoku straight balled out with six catches through the most stinging pains of his life.
07:19And when the final buzzer sounded, Njoku wasn't hiding anymore.
07:22He let the world see his war wounds.
07:24After the game, when I took my helmet off and I looked myself in the face and it was just tore up.
07:31I said, I want people to see this.
07:33I want people to understand, you know, what I went through.
07:36His story was so courageous that he became a voice for burn victims across the nation.
07:40There were so many DMs and messages of burn victims that are scared for their face.
07:45Just went forth to, you know, say, I guess, to make them feel a little better about themselves.
07:48You know, things happen, mistakes happen, and, you know, you've got to just put your best foot forward.
07:52He battled through an injury never before seen.
07:54But there was no playing through one of the worst injuries ever.
07:57Look at number eight.
07:58Zach Miller made the most spectacular play of his life.
08:01All for it to end in the most twisted way imaginable.
08:04And Miller is still down in the end zone.
08:06It was one of the most catastrophic sights ever seen on the field.
08:11And Miller was at risk for having his leg amputated.
08:14As we got in the ambulance, they were taking my shoe off and cutting my socks off to check for a pulse.
08:20And I could kind of tell just from the look of it.
08:22There was no, oh, hey, we got this, that.
08:24It was, you don't have a pulse in your foot, and we have to fix that.
08:30Sid Dreyer is one of our assistant athletic trainers.
08:32He told the EMTs, like, there's no way you're taking us to that hospital.
08:36So he pulled out his phone and found a level one trauma center five minutes from us.
08:40And then I just remember telling Doc, like, do not cut my leg off, please.
08:44They hit me with the mask, and I cashed out for a little bit.
08:47See, Miller popped a blood vessel that supplies blood to the lower leg.
08:50So he was rushed to the hospital immediately for emergency surgery.
08:53And it wasn't the last of his nightmare, because he had to go in for nine total surgeries
08:57and still was never able to make it back to an NFL field again.
09:00If I'm physically able to do it, I'd love to do it.
09:04Am I cool if I don't?
09:08Out of my hands.
09:09NFL players always have to plan for their careers to end at any moment.
09:12But imagine being terrified of your own teammate.
09:14Because at number seven, we have one of the most insane players in NFL history.
09:18Now, Bill Romanowski was already known for being a loose cannon.
09:21But what he did at the Raiders training camp in 2003, it was straight up psychotic.
09:25See, with players trying to make the team, training camp fights are just another day.
09:28And at tight end, Marcus Williams was simply doing his job at practice.
09:31Now, when the play started, he went to block Romanowski.
09:34But as soon as he made contact, Bill grabbed him by the neck, while Williams threw his hands
09:37in the air to indicate he was not trying to fight.
09:39However, Bill threw Williams' helmet off and punched Williams until he chipped his tooth
09:44and shattered his eye socket.
09:45And Romanowski stood over Williams and said,
09:47Don't you ever f***ing hold me.
09:49The Raiders defense has gotten their ass kicked in the past couple weeks.
09:54So what do you think happens in the meeting rooms?
09:56They start calling you out in practice.
10:00I had it happen to me at the Raiders, and I got in a fight.
10:03Hey, I've gotten in a lot of fights, but I had never hurt a teammate.
10:07And I hurt a teammate.
10:08Now, Williams was rushed to the hospital.
10:10And after sitting there for two days, he thought his playing days might be over.
10:13But Williams wasn't just about to let it slide, so he lawyered up and took Romo to court.
10:17But Romanowski had to cop up $350,000 in damages, basically a year's salary at the time,
10:23and later paid another $75,000 to avoid more legal drama.
10:26But as wild as Romanowski's trial was, it's nothing compared to the chaos surrounding
10:30Ray Lewis at number six.
10:31Because one of the hardest-hitting players in NFL history didn't just terrify his opponents,
10:35he terrified the entire league by being charged with murder.
10:39Now, when Ray stepped into the league, he immediately became a superstar.
10:42So with a $25 million contract and the nation watching him, he wasn't just a regular guy anymore.
10:47And in 2000, during Super Bowl weekend in Atlanta, there was nothing but trouble outside.
10:51Because after the big game, Ray and his crew decided to head up the town and turn up.
10:54But this wasn't your average entourage.
10:56His boys included Joseph Sweeting, a strip club owner, and Reginald Oakley, another guy from back home.
11:01And these weren't exactly the type of dudes to keep things low-key.
11:04So after leaving a nightclub, things took a dark turn.
11:07While heading to their car, an argument broke out with two men, Richard Laurel and Jessith Baker.
11:11And what started as trash talk escalated into absolute chaos.
11:15And moments later, both men were lying in a pool of blood.
11:18See, Ray's friends had just purchased pocket knives from Ray's autograph signing at a sporting goods store earlier that day.
11:23It wasn't long before Ray and his boys were arrested.
11:25Now, this immediately became one of the NFL's craziest controversies ever.
11:28I mean, while the Ravens were starting off their off-season practices,
11:31the future of their league was being charged with murder.
11:33Lewis pleaded guilty for obstruction of justice, but it was clear that the investigators wanted him gone for life.
11:47But Sweeting and Oakley were acquitted of murder by self-defense.
11:50And after spending 12 days in jail, Ray vowed to turn his life around.
11:54He walked away with his freedom, but not without the scars of a moment that would follow him forever.
11:58Man, let me tell you something.
11:59I learned a lot through that.
12:01Put your trust in no man.
12:03Definitely put your trust in no sister.
12:05Because that ain't what's gonna pull you out at the end of the day.
12:07It's how you deal with it.
12:08And man, I've sought so much death that if anybody ever had a glimpse of what I've seen before that,
12:15they'd know I'm the last person that's about to create death or take life.
12:19I was built and born to give life.
12:22That's what my whole work ethic and everything is all about.
12:25Yeah, Ray will have to live with that for the rest of his life.
12:28But at least he got to keep it.
12:29Because the player at number five wasn't so fortunate.
12:32Because Chris Henry's tragedy became a lesson for the entire NFL.
12:35See, in 2009, Henry had just turned his life around.
12:38After years of being labeled as the NFL's bad boy for countless suspensions and legal issues,
12:42the dude was finally maturing.
12:44I mean, he was engaged, had kids, and was ready to leave the drama behind him.
12:47But his story took a chilling turn no one saw coming.
12:50It all went down during a fight with his fiancée, Lulangi Tonga, at her parents' house.
12:54And things got so heated, Tonga tried to drive away in her truck, but Henry wasn't having it.
12:58He jumped into the bed of the truck, banging on the windows, begging her to stop.
13:02Witnesses said he was yelling for her to pull over.
13:04But before anyone could process what was happening, Henry lost his balance, fell out, and hit the pavement hard.
13:09The injuries were devastating.
13:10He was rushed to the hospital, but less than 24 hours later, he was gone.
13:14Beyond football, Chris was a father, engaged to be married, and a man with a bright future.
13:18Now his life has been cut short by an accident police are really still trying to sort out.
13:23And just like that, a young man with a second chance at life had it all ripped away.
13:27It's even scarier.
13:28An autopsy revealed Henry was suffering from CTE, despite just being 26 years old.
13:32And there was one teammate who took this news the hardest, Chad Ochocinco.
13:36Chris was a very good friend of mine, really extremely close.
13:42It's sad to see that it's come to this point.
13:48I know that's to say, you know, he's been doing everything right.
13:52He's been doing everything right.
13:54My grandma always say, you never really question that man upstairs.
13:59So when the Bengals stepped out for their next game, Chad made sure his teammate would be remembered
14:10by catching a pass just for his best friend.
14:12Chad Ochocinco.
14:14And you know there's going to be a tribute here for Chris Henry.
14:19Chris' story became one of the most haunting examples of the dangers NFL players face,
14:23both on and off the field.
14:24But at number four, an entire stadium nearly watched the man die.
14:27See, one hit, Ricardo Lockett was on the brink of never being able to move again.
14:32He was just out there trying to make a play until he got hit like a train wreck.
14:36Lockett was on the ground without any motion.
14:38Ricardo didn't even think he could get up, so he sent a prayer.
14:41We're kind of fighting and we're running, we're fighting and we're running.
14:43And I'm like, okay, I got him.
14:45Typical, typical.
14:46Bam!
14:46Got him off of me and I look to my left.
14:48It's like a car wreck.
14:49Like everything was in slow motion.
14:51And I'm laying on the ground.
14:53I can't feel anything.
14:53I could just move my eyes.
14:55So I'm just laying on the ground and I'm just praying.
14:57I said, Lord, please, if you give me another chance, I'll change my life and I'll change
15:02others as well.
15:03And his faith came through.
15:04Because on his way back to the locker room, his feeling came back.
15:07And once Lockett got to the hospital, it was clear that his playing days were done.
15:11Because he suffered a devastating neck injury all because of the danger of the game.
15:14And he had every reason to be upset at the world.
15:16But he knows the world is far bigger than football.
15:18Did anybody from the Dallas organization reach out to see if you were all right?
15:22I talked to Heat that night.
15:24Oh, you did talk to me then?
15:25Yeah, he called me.
15:26He called, actually called the hospital room.
15:28And I told him, I said, don't worry about it, man.
15:30I said, you're a warrior.
15:31You're a dog just like I'm a dog.
15:33We play the game with the passion.
15:35And you continue to do that.
15:36You continue to feed your family.
15:37Don't worry about me.
15:38So you didn't see this as a dirty kid?
15:39No.
15:40It's football.
15:41I know what I signed up for.
15:43And that's just what comes with it.
15:44I don't want anybody to feel sorry for me.
15:46I don't blame anybody for what happened to me.
15:48Now, Ricardo retired early, but he used his experience to become an expert in making the
15:52game safer by joining Harvard's health study.
15:54Wow.
15:55This dude changed his life to save the game we love and try to stop moments like number
15:58three.
15:59See, this one awkward tackle left the nation terrified, as Reggie Brown took a bone-crushing
16:03hit that left him breathless.
16:05Here's the injury.
16:07His helmet jammed down into the shoulders.
16:11Reggie dropped to the ground, lost control of his limbs, and wasn't breathing.
16:15I mean, the hit was so bad, Reggie was going to need a hero to save him.
16:18And it came from someone who had no idea what he was doing.
16:21I'm an orthopedic surgeon, so we're not usually saving people's lives directly.
16:27And it was only his second year as the team doctor, and he was in control of whether Reggie
16:31lived or died.
16:32He didn't have any tools and used the only method he could think of.
16:35Going mouth to mouth.
16:36This got Reggie stabilized, but he didn't start breathing on his own until he reached
16:40the hospital.
16:40He did not return to breathing on his own until we were almost to the hospital.
16:48His doctors had to perform emergency surgery to fuse his spine together, and Reggie was
16:52never able to play again.
16:53But he escaped death and was able to still live just like you and me.
16:57And that was something Sean Taylor wasn't able to reach at number two.
16:59Because the world was robbed of one of the greatest NFL talents ever in a tragedy nobody
17:04could have predicted.
17:05See, in just four years, Sean Taylor became one of the most versatile and hard-hitting
17:08safeties to ever grace the gridiron.
17:10I mean, he was every quarterback's worst nightmare and rose to become a fan favorite.
17:14But on November 26, 2007, Taylor was recovering from a knee injury at his home in Miami.
17:19And while most of his teammates were gearing up for their next game, Taylor was resting
17:22with his girlfriend and their 18-month-old daughter.
17:25That's when terror arrived at his door.
17:27His four teenage intruders broke into his house in the dead of night.
17:30And when Taylor confronted them, they fired a single fatal shot hitting his femoral artery.
17:35The Elpro's safety was rushed to the hospital.
17:37But despite hours of surgery, he couldn't be saved.
17:40Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor died this morning at a Miami hospital after being
17:45shot in his Florida home.
17:47The 24-year-old was airlifted to the hospital early Monday after someone broke through the
17:51couple's bedroom door and fired two shots.
17:54One bullet hit Taylor in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing the massive blood loss
17:59that took his life.
18:00And just like that, the NFL world was shattered.
18:03Taylor's death rocked the league to its core.
18:05And his team honored him by playing their next game with just 10 men on defense, leaving
18:09his safety position empty for one symbolic play.
18:12Washington has only 10 players on defense.
18:16Reed Dowdy is the guy who's expected to replace Sean Taylor in the lineup.
18:20He's on the sideline.
18:21The dude became one of the biggest what-ifs in NFL history and left those he loved with
18:25a piece of them missing forever.
18:26But now we've hit the most terrifying moment on our list.
18:29There hasn't been a city who's dealt with loss like New Orleans.
18:32Now when you think of the New Orleans Superdome, you picture roaring crowds, blue breeze lifting
18:36the Lombardi trophy, or other iconic NFL moments.
18:39But in August 2005, the Superdome became the site of a living nightmare.
18:43Because Hurricane Katrina had ripped from New Orleans, forcing thousands to the only place
18:47that could weather the storm.
18:48And what should have been a place of safety turned into absolute chaos.
18:52See, as the storm intensified, parts of the Superdome's roof peeled away, water poured
18:56in, and the power failed.
18:58Early that Monday morning, all of a sudden I just hear some kind of like loud sound like
19:03boom.
19:06I hear a rummage.
19:07Then you hear some rummage like brrrr.
19:10Then the rummage just get like boom.
19:12You know, it was starting to batter and beat on top of the dome.
19:17But from that point, you know, we can see the water starting to slowly seep in.
19:23And then the hole got bigger.
19:24Then the water just started coming in and pouring in.
19:27And then it wasn't one hole.
19:28Then another hole opened up.
19:31All that water started to mash them over there.
19:33Over 20,000 evacuees were crammed inside with no air conditioning, limited food, and restrooms
19:38that exploded.
19:39I mean, the conditions were so bad that they were described as apocalyptic.
19:43A lot of different things happened, you know, inside the dome.
19:46It just got real crazy.
19:47You know, the smell was really, really horrific.
19:49You're talking like after the first day the tortoise was already backed up.
19:52And not having, you know, drinking water and all that other stuff was just kind of like
19:57real, real bad.
19:58I watched a lot of people suffer.
19:59I've seen people like under 10 elders, like just sitting in places for like days at a
20:04time, not moving.
20:06And once the hurricane subsided, the Saints had a new symbol of purpose, representing
20:10their city.
20:10Now, the team had to play the entire 2005 season away from home, with the Superdome becoming
20:15unusable.
20:15But in 2006, the Saints returned to a repaired Superdome, kicking off their home passionate fan
20:20bases in all of sports, as their city went through a terrifying moment like none other.
20:27Bye.
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