Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer

Recommended

  • 5/25/2025
Most DANGEROUS Injuries in the NFL😧

The NFL is one of the most intense and physical sports leagues in the world — but with that high level of competition comes serious risk. In this video, we take a deep dive into the most dangerous injuries in NFL history, from gruesome on-field accidents to life-altering trauma that changed players' careers — and lives — forever.

From spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) to compound fractures and internal organ damage, we examine the plays that led to disaster, the aftermath for the athletes involved, and how these injuries reshaped league safety protocols. Featuring stories of legendary players like Ryan Shazier, Kevin Everett, Damar Hamlin, and more.

⚠️ Viewer discretion is advised — some footage and stories are graphic.

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more NFL insights, breakdowns, and untold stories.

Let me know if you want a shorter version, one tailored for YouTube Shorts, or a version that focuses more on specific injuries or players.








Category

🥇
Sports
Transcript
00:00These are the 20 most dangerous injuries in NFL history.
00:03Oh no, that does not look good, Jim.
00:06And at number 20, John Ryan showed why punters need to stick to their day job,
00:10because he got knocked out cold.
00:11Red seat, part of the knee, let's push the ball.
00:14And he goes down and he might be hurt as well.
00:16He would add some speed until he got folded, but he wasn't as bent as Russell Wilson.
00:20See, Russ was throwing a pass and showed us why playing against Aaron Donald is dangerous.
00:24Oh, the middle finger of Wilson looks to be disjointed.
00:29Now that was crooked.
00:30But imagine if that happened to your head,
00:32because Joe Flacco thought he was making a safe slide when he was almost decapitated.
00:36He's going to have to, oh, now the ball comes out, helmet's off.
00:40Bins his head, helmet comes jarringly off.
00:44Dude almost lost his mind.
00:45But Joe Burrow took danger to the next level.
00:48See, Burrow tried to stand tall in the pocket until his knee crumbled.
00:51Bad news for Cincinnati fans.
00:53Oh, Joe Burrow.
00:54It looked like his left leg.
00:57Oh no.
00:57Well, that had to be the loudest crack ever.
01:00But Marquise Goodwin was straight up vibrating at number 16.
01:03Because Blake Countess tried to commit murder.
01:0519 in this half.
01:06Oh my goodness.
01:08Goodwin just got unloaded upon by Blake Countess.
01:13Yeah, it almost got deadly out there.
01:15But it wasn't as horrifying as number 15.
01:17See, Dak Prescott's injury was downright twisted.
01:20Because his defender's illegal tackle ended with his ankle going in five different directions.
01:24Scott breaks the tackle.
01:28Picks up a total of nine more.
01:30Oh no.
01:31Oh no.
01:32That was catastrophic.
01:33But some players are just their own worst enemies, like our 14th moment.
01:36Because Gus Ferrat ran a touchdown and was so excited that he crushed his head against the wall.
01:41Bang!
01:41Hits his head right into the cushion.
01:43You know, just figuring one of those things, you're just going to bounce right off the wall and come back and celebrate.
01:48And it didn't happen that way.
01:49And got a little shocked, a little stunned.
01:50Yeah, that was mindless.
01:52But Johnny Knox's injury will send a chill up your spine.
01:55Because at number 13, Knox tried to make up for his fumble until he got bent backwards.
01:59Fumble!
02:01Ball is loose!
02:03And Johnny is down.
02:05Anthony Hargrove, number 94T, slams head on with Knox.
02:09Dude broke his back and ended his career right there.
02:12And that was something Tom Brady was lucky to escape.
02:15But his injury happened in what could have been his best season ever.
02:18See, heading into the 2008 season, the Patriots tried to cement themselves as the greatest team ever assembled.
02:23But all of those dreams came crashing down.
02:26Because in the previous season, New England had a perfect record.
02:29Until Super Bowl XLII, when they had their hearts broken.
02:32So when they returned with their same weapons as Wes Welker and Randy Moss in 2008,
02:36you already know Tom Brady was out for his revenge.
02:39But in the first game of the season, Tom suffered the worst injury of his career.
02:43Brady, with time, hit as he throws.
02:46And Tom Brady got hit right on the knee.
02:49He got hit right on the knee.
02:51Tom Brady took a tremendous hit as he released that ball.
02:55My man had his season ended with a torn ACL.
02:58It stopped maybe his greatest roster he ever had.
03:01But the greatest NFL quarterbacks have to learn the hard way.
03:03See, Patrick Mahomes' knee injury was so gruesome, it got him bad from one key NFL play for life.
03:09It all went down on fourth and one.
03:10The Chiefs called a routine QB sneak, just trying to get a first down.
03:14But what seemed like a harmless play really ended Patrick Mahomes' career.
03:18See, when the bodies were removed,
03:19Patrick's kneecap was not there where he left it.
03:22So the team trainers reacted like their lives depended on it.
03:25And it's like they almost popped that right knee back in place.
03:29Now look, the Chiefs couldn't just keep treating their Super Bowl MVP like any other guy.
03:32So he hasn't ran a QB sneak ever since.
03:35I believe in the quarterback sneak, but just sometimes you gotta watch out for your kneecaps.
03:38I'm like 95% and one kneecap short of being 100%.
03:42I think it makes a ton of sense that you don't do quarterback sneaks.
03:46I remember being on the ground and my kneecap was in the side of my calf.
03:50And the worst part was the reaction from every teammate I had.
03:53You know guys who just had a foot.
03:54I had dudes running 50 yards away from me, just running down to the other side of the field.
04:00My center's yelling, get off me.
04:02Get off me!
04:03I'm like, I can't move.
04:04What do you want me to do?
04:05My kneecap is in the back of my leg.
04:06Yeah, the Chiefs are risking another ring over one yard.
04:09But the Redskins couldn't have cared less about RG3's knees.
04:12Because Robert Griffin III was supposed to be the future face of the NFL.
04:16Until his coaches pushed him past his breaking point.
04:18See, in 2012, Washington drafted Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick.
04:22And this dude immediately set the league on fire.
04:25I'm talking about Offensive Rookie of the Year and leading the Redskins to the playoffs.
04:29He was really looking like the next big thing.
04:31But the Redskins should have pulled the plug on his season early.
04:34Because in Week 14, Griffin felt pain.
04:36See, RG3 suffered an LCL sprain in his knee.
04:39But the playoffs were right around the corner.
04:41And Washington was desperate for a Super Bowl.
04:43They didn't care if they had to sacrifice their franchise QB to get it.
04:46Even without getting touched, he got hurt on this play.
04:50Now, Robert was already looking like he was on his last leg.
04:53But it was about to turn even worse.
04:55Because the Redskins thought Robert could still carry them to a victory.
04:58So they kept him on the field.
04:59And in the fourth quarter, we witnessed one of the greatest NFL rookies ever
05:02have his career flipped upside down.
05:05And then as he goes down, if you see that knee, go.
05:08One wrong step in RG3's knees snap, ending his superstar trajectory.
05:12From league MVP to limping into oblivion.
05:15He never got a chance to see his greatness.
05:18And it was the same for Drew Bledsoe.
05:20Because one brutal hit changed the entire course of NFL history.
05:23See, back in 2001, Drew Bledsoe was the highest paid quarterback in the league.
05:27And the Patriots were banking on him to build a dynasty.
05:30But when he ran for a first down against the Jets, his future collapsed.
05:33Oh, does he hit?
05:37Oh my.
05:38And, and, oh, look at Drew.
05:40Yeah, is he, uh, this is more critical than the first down.
05:43Drew got lit up so hard, he ended up with a ruptured blood vessel in his chest
05:47and began bleeding from his insides.
05:49And doctors were saying he was lucky to even be alive.
05:52But hey, maybe that hit was destiny.
05:54Because it paved the way for a sixth-round pick who was a complete nobody at the time.
05:58Yeah, that's right.
05:59Tom Brady stepped in, led New England to their first Super Bowl victory,
06:03and went on to become a six-time champ.
06:05All while Bledsoe had to sit there and watch what could have been his legacy get stolen by the GOAT.
06:10Yeah, injuries can be straight-up ruthless.
06:12Just like what happened to Sterling Sharp at number eight.
06:14Now, we all know about the TV personality and NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharp.
06:18But what if I told you he had a brother who was even better?
06:21See, back in the day, Sterling Sharp was unstoppable.
06:23So by his ninth season, he'd racked up some of the craziest wide receiver stats ever.
06:28And while he was dominating the league,
06:30little bro Shannon was out there trying to fill those big shoes.
06:33Yeah, the Sharp brothers were on pace to become the first-ever siblings inducted into the Hall of Fame.
06:37That was until a routine block changed everything.
06:40Mike Favre would be set.
06:44Sterling Sharp is down.
06:46And you see him there taking on the defensive back.
06:49And boy, he took it right on the numbers.
06:52Now, it looked like Sterling barely got touched.
06:54But that would be the last play of his career.
06:57Turns out, he had a herniated disc in his neck that was messing with his nerves so bad
07:01that he started losing strength in his arm fast.
07:03And the doctors told him straight up that if he played again,
07:05he was risking himself for paralysis.
07:08So Sterling had no choice but to hang up his cleats far too soon.
07:11Now, Shannon knew he had to make sure his brother's impact on the game was remembered forever.
07:15So when Uncle Shea Shea reached the Hall of Fame,
07:17he made it clear that there was someone greater than him.
07:19My big brother Sterling, I'm the only pro football player that's in the Hall of Fame.
07:24And I'm the second best player in my own family.
07:31The 44 men and women that I thanked and congratulated early for giving me
07:35and bestowing this prestigious honors upon me.
07:37All I do is ask.
07:40All I can do is ask in the most humblest way I know how.
07:44is that the next time you go into that room where you start making a list,
07:50look at Sterling Sharpe's accomplishments for a seven-year period
07:54of the guys that's in the Hall of Fame at the receiver position
07:57and the guys that have the potential to be in this building.
08:01That's all I ask.
08:02I don't say, hey, just do that.
08:05The next time you go in that room,
08:07think about Sterling Sharpe's number for seven years.
08:09That's all I ask.
08:09Damn, Shannon really went out there and broke a leg in that speech.
08:13At number seven, Terrell Owens literally broke his leg.
08:16Because we got to talk about how his injury changed the league for good.
08:19See, back in 2004, T.O. was unstoppable.
08:22Until one brutal horse collar tackle turned his leg into a knot.
08:26T.O. only one catch until this.
08:27Spraying right ankle, x-rays negative.
08:29Yeah, this dude's leg got twisted so bad,
08:32he ended up with a broken leg, a sprained ankle, and two torn ligaments.
08:36His season was supposed to be over, or so we thought.
08:39Because even though T.O. went through his worst injury yet,
08:41the Philadelphia Eagles went all the way to the Super Bowl.
08:44So T.O. put himself through the most rigorous recovery program ever
08:47and decided that he would play on one leg.
08:49Not even the doctors that performed this surgery cleared him to play.
08:52My doctor that performed the surgery,
08:53he didn't even medically clear me to play in the game.
08:56I had to sign a waiver to play in the Super Bowl.
08:58So, yeah, exactly, it would have been a liability.
09:01And in Super Bowl 39, T.O. limped his way onto the field
09:04and absolutely balled out.
09:06And the pass is complete to that man, Owens.
09:10Quick throw, Terrell Owens.
09:12He has two catches already.
09:14So much for him being a decoy.
09:16His hand.
09:18Owens, open space.
09:21Harrison chasing it out of bounds inside the 20,
09:24and a late flag comes in.
09:26I mean, the Eagles lost.
09:27But Terrell's nine catches for 122 yards
09:30was one of the most courageous things ever done in NFL history.
09:33The league saw T.O. putting his leg on the line and said,
09:35yeah, we gotta change this.
09:37So before the 2005 season,
09:39they straight up banned the horse collar tackle forever.
09:41The NFL changed things real quick.
09:43Unlike the stadium at number six.
09:45See, MetLife Stadium is a place where careers go to die.
09:48I'm talking torn ACLs, busted ankles, sprained knees, you name it.
09:52Just like in 2020,
09:53after the San Francisco 49ers lost three other players to torn ACLs.
09:57And the most devastating of them all was Nick Bosa,
09:59who had his season cut short in the blink of an eye.
10:02On this inside run by the Jets,
10:05Nick Bosa,
10:06the reigning defensive rookie of the year,
10:09was rolled up on.
10:11It looks like maybe his knee shifted in an awkward way.
10:15It was like the turf was littered with landmines.
10:18Throughout the years,
10:19MetLife kept claiming ACLs.
10:21So they had to fix the problem.
10:22And in 2023,
10:24they finally replaced the turf.
10:25But guess what?
10:26It's still causing injuries.
10:28It's like they swapped out one hunted field for another.
10:30But the turf wasn't done making headlines just yet.
10:33Because in 2023,
10:34the Jets traded Aaron Rodgers to be their savior.
10:37And Rodgers wasn't believing all the scary stories.
10:39But in week one of the 2023 season,
10:41he found out real quick.
10:43Because just four snaps into his Jets debut,
10:45Rodgers dropped back to pass when his left foot got shredded.
10:48Now Rodgers sits down.
10:50Take a look here at the very end and it's hard to see.
10:56Just like that,
10:56the dude who was supposed to bring a Super Bowl to New York
10:58was done for the season.
11:00I mean,
11:00when a four-time MVP can't even survive a single game on your field,
11:03you know something's seriously wrong.
11:05But there's one player who has suffered the most mind-bending knee injuries ever.
11:09Look,
11:09Chubb is one of the greatest NFL talents at running back in the past decade.
11:12But if he has another nightmare,
11:14he may never play football again.
11:15Because Chubb's horrors started back in college,
11:18when one step left the nation scared.
11:20This is not a promising start.
11:24And Nick Chubb is still down.
11:26This dude torn three ligaments in his knee,
11:29enough for anyone to call quits.
11:30But then Chubb came back as one of the top backs in the country,
11:33and in 2017 was drafted in the second round to the Browns.
11:36Now Chubb quickly became a top rusher in the league.
11:39And in 2023,
11:40he was headed for the end zone,
11:41but his knee got cranked like a door hinge.
11:43Chubb trying to pick his way.
11:45Inside the five,
11:46and he does.
11:47And the last thing any Browns fan wants to see,
11:50Nick Chubb holding his left leg.
11:52Oh boy.
11:53I mean,
11:53Chubb's injury was so violent,
11:55they couldn't even show the replay.
11:57Some injuries in the NFL get even more dangerous.
12:00See,
12:00Joe Theismann suffered one of the most gruesome injuries in NFL history.
12:03Now,
12:04Theismann was a Super Bowl winning quarterback,
12:06and one of the faces of the league.
12:07So when he took the field for a Monday Night Football game in 1985,
12:10against the ruthless Lawrence Taylor,
12:12the whole nation was tuned in.
12:14So when the Redskins attempted a flea flick,
12:16it gave LT just enough time to hit Feisman where he never saw it coming.
12:21And beckoned over to the Redskins bench,
12:23get your medical team in here quickly.
12:25The injury was devastating,
12:27but even the greatest athlete ever couldn't make it through without danger at number three.
12:31Because imagine a player so athletic that he was an all-star in two sports.
12:35See,
12:35in 1985,
12:36he won the Heisman Trophy.
12:37And when he wasn't on the football field,
12:39he was an All-American slugger in baseball.
12:42Then he went and ran the fastest four-yard dash ever recorded.
12:45Is it true?
12:46You ran a 4-1-2.
12:484-1-3.
12:50This dude was so nice that in 1986,
12:52he was drafted number one overall to the Kansas City Royals in baseball.
12:56But after some contract drama with Tampa Bay,
12:58Bowe ended up with the Los Angeles Raiders,
12:59making plays never seen before on the diamond.
13:02Bowe won the charge!
13:03Bowe is there!
13:05Yo, I'm a love that one!
13:08Bowe was so dominant,
13:10this dude had one of the most iconic Nike commercials of all time.
13:13And with Jackson's superhuman ability,
13:14he wasn't thinking twice about getting injured.
13:16The world was witnessing something special.
13:18And during the 1991 playoffs against the Bengals,
13:21everybody had their eyes on Bowe.
13:22But no one knew that this moment would end up robbing us of that greatness.
13:26Because one awkward step altered history.
13:29Apparently, Bowe Jackson shaken up a bit.
13:31Nobody saw it coming.
13:32But Bowe's football career ended right there.
13:34Because he dislocated his hip so badly,
13:36it cut off the blood supply in his hip joint.
13:39And just like that,
13:39the greatest athlete ever became one of the biggest what-ifs in sports history.
13:43But at number two,
13:44we have another two-way sports star on our list.
13:46See, Deion Sanders was another athletic freak.
13:49The way he split his time between the diamond and the gridiron eventually caught up to him.
13:53And his injury history became deadly.
13:54Look, Deion is the only player ever to play in the World Series at a Super Bowl.
13:59And with all that mileage on his feet, Deion retired with the ugliest toes ever.
14:02We're talking about hammer toes that were barely holding on.
14:05It's the closest thing they called to turf toe.
14:07And it was just horrendous.
14:10I mean, I've never felt anything like it.
14:12So they had to shave it down and straighten it out.
14:16And that's what I got.
14:17Now fast forward to when Deion became a coach.
14:19This man was still hobbling around,
14:21dealing with that same foot problem since his playing days.
14:24But then one day, the pain became unbearable.
14:26Lauren was changing my bandages daily on my foot.
14:30And she said, Coach, your toes are black.
14:34It was a little discolored this morning.
14:37And upon going to the hospital,
14:39we found out some really, really, really, really severe things.
14:44Safe to say he's going to be with us for a few days.
14:46He's going to have a procedure done a little later today.
14:48He has actually a blood clot, not in a vein,
14:50but actually that it's located in the artery.
14:53So a blood clot in an artery, you can lose your leg.
14:58And once Deion got to the hospital,
14:59he found out he had a severe blood clot.
15:01Now this was hard to hear.
15:03The news was going to get even worse.
15:04Not one, but three, I believe,
15:06that ran from behind the knee down his whole calf to his ankle.
15:12And for people that don't know what a femoral arterial blood clot is,
15:15it is life-threatening.
15:17The news I got from the doctors was this was really serious.
15:21They were talking about the amputation of toes.
15:25Then they were talking about the amputation of my leg from knee down.
15:29Then they were trying to ensure I had life.
15:33So we called my mother about the clots,
15:37and she informed me that we didn't know
15:39that my uncle died from blood clots.
15:42My other uncle, who's alive now,
15:45almost passed last year from blood clots,
15:48and she was diagnosed with blood clots a year ago.
15:53So hearing that is something you don't want to hear
15:57while you're in the hospital in that state.
16:01Yeah, Deion was lucky to leave with his life,
16:03because our final moment is taking danger to the max.
16:06See, Tua Tunga Vailoa has suffered some of the worst head injuries ever seen,
16:10but his love for the game won't let him quit.
16:12It all started in week three of the 2023 season,
16:14when Tua hit his head so hard,
16:16he couldn't even stand up straight.
16:18The game, right now, Tunga Vailoa, ooh boy.
16:21Awful, awful sight to see.
16:23That looked dangerous.
16:24But believe it or not, he still played for the rest of the game.
16:27Tua thought it was no big deal,
16:28but just weeks later against the Bengals,
16:30he suffered something even more horrifying.
16:33And, uh-oh.
16:35Now at this point, NFL fans were scared out of their minds,
16:38and there were many calls for Tua to take the year off.
16:40Tua wasn't having it, so he finished the season.
16:43Now in 2024, Tua thought he had moved past the worst head injury of his life,
16:47but all Tua knows is the game.
16:48So in week 10, Tua made a courageous return and had something to say about it.
16:52Not fun. It wasn't good.
16:55You never want to see someone that you love on a field or in a ring, in a cage,
17:01or in whatever profession they're in, get hurt.
17:04What role did that play?
17:05The fact that you're a husband, the fact that you're a father?
17:07It definitely played a role.
17:08That's for sure.
17:09I had that in the back of my mind.
17:11I love the game of football.
17:13It's what I've done since I was four years old.
17:15Now Tua might be risking his life,
17:17but you gotta respect it when somebody's living their dream.
17:19You gotta respect it when somebody's living their dream.

Recommended