After suffering another ACL tear over the weekend, you can’t help but feel bad for oft-injured former Sydney Swans defender Alex Johnson.
Having played in 45 games over the first two years of his career, including the 2012 Premiership, things took a turn for the worse when he suffered his first major injury during the 2013 preseason.
Four more ACL tears and multiple surgeries later, Johnson returned to the Swans in late 2018, only to suffer a sixth major injury, this time to his other knee, ending his professional career.
Being a professional athlete puts a lot of strain on a body, and Johnson is part of a list of luckless players whose careers have not been defined by their actions but their time with the medical staff.
Scott Gumbleton – AFL
Drafted second overall by Essendon in 2006, he struggled to get on the field for the Dons, playing just five games in his first three seasons.
2010 saw him play in 17 of the first 18 games before broken ribs and a punctured lung sent him back to the treatment room where further injuries limited him to just 13 games between 2011 and 2013.
A fresh start with Fremantle beckoned for 2014 but injuries prevented him from ever taking to the field and he retired after that season.
Jason Winderlich – AFL
Another Bombers player who never quite got his career going the way many were hoping, Winderlich played in just 129 games over 13 seasons, or just over 45% of matches during his career.
After initially retiring at the end of the 2014 season, Winderlich made one last attempt at a comeback, but only played in one match due to a back injury before finally retiring for good.
When he did play however, he was more than capable of pulling out an impressive goal though.
Tautau Moga – NRL
Another player whose knees just wouldn’t cooperate with his desire to play, Moga has suffered four ACL tears in his career to date.
Two of those came in 2013 with the Roosters, the second one coming as he attempted to come back from the first reconstruction.
His fourth injury came in 2018 with the Knights, tearing the ligament in his knee while scoring a try, returning from injury to see out the 2019 season.
Tomas Rosicky – Arsenal
Seemingly destined to become one of football’s elite midfielders, Rosicky’s career hit the skids after his move to Arsenal after the 2006 World Cup.
In January 2008 he suffered a tendon injury in an FA Cup match that ruled him out for over 18 months before returning to Arsenal’s lineup.
Having torn his achillies tendon at Euro 2012, Rosicky went back to the training room, missing the first half of the season and was a bit part player for the club for the next three seasons, suffering a serious knee injury early in the 2015/2016 season.
He returned to his original club Sparta Prague the following season, making 12 appearances before retiring as injuries finally won out.
Harry Kewell – Football
Undoubtedly the most talented Australian footballer of the last 30 years, Kewell was a special talent that struggled with injuries in the biggest moments of his career.
He is the only player to be substituted off through injury in both an FA Cup and Champions League final and we all remember that feeling of doom when he came out of the tunnel on crutches ahead of that Italy game in 2006.
When he was on the pitch though, he was a special player, so good we can even forgive some of the dodgy haircuts.
Of course, his most famous moment for the national team might have been a miskick.
Tony Romo – NFL
One of the greatest rags to riches stories in the NFL, Romo went from an undrafted free agent to quarterbacking one of the marquee franchises, although injuries cost him a couple of playoff runs and he never won a Super Bowl.
After ascending the quarterback power rankings in his first four seasons as a starter, 2010 saw injuries really start to limit his productivity.
From 2010 to 2016, Romo was in and out of the lineup, suffering a broken clavicle, punctured lung, a damaged hand, back surgery, a herniated disk in his back, a broken collarbone and finally a compression fracture in a vertabra in his back.
That final injury saw his career brought to a halt as he lost his starting job to then rookie Dak Prescott before retiring at the end of the year.
Likened to another great in Brett Favre, Romo was capable of some truly amazing plays.
Chad Pennington – NFL
The glass half full summary of Chad Pennington’s career is that he was the second best quarterback in his division behind Tom Brady.
If you wanted to be harsh, it says a lot that the signal caller with the reconstructed shoulder was the second best quarterback in the AFC East this millennium.
Drafted 18th overall by the New York Jets, Pennington took over the starting role midway through 2002 before a hand injury caused him to miss the start of the 2003 campaign.
The following season saw the beginning of major shoulder issues which hampered his already limited arm strength, starting with an injured rotator cuff that lingered into 2005, bringing that season to an early end.
Dumped by the Jets after 2007, he moved to Miami, coming back with a vengeance, defeating his replacement Brett Favre in Week 17 to send the Dolphins to the playoffs.
That was his last hurrah with shoulder injuries in 2009 and 2010, both followed by surgeries ending his once promising career.
Derrick Rose – NBA
Derrick Rose should have been a top five player in the NBA for the last decade, however after his 2011 MVP season, injuries brought his career to a staggering halt.
During the 2012 NBA Playoffs, Rose tore his ACL and missed the entire 2012/2013 campaign.
Continued knee issues marred the remainder of his career in Chicago as well as stints with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Timberwolves and his current team of the Pistons.
Greg Oden – NBA
Forever known as “that injured guy that went ahead of KD,” Oden could have reached the same heights as his draft mate had he not battled injuries from the outset of his career.
He had microfracture surgery before playing a game, missing the entire 07/08 season, before missing part or all of the next six seasons before attempting a comeback with the Miami Heat in 2014.