Ever feel too embarrassed to go to the physiotherapist because you feel foolish about how you injured yourself? Don't worry, read on and find out about some of the most ridiculous injuries suffered by professional athletes. Feel better knowing that no matter how unusual the cause of your injury was that it can't be as bad as these.
#10. Charlie Hough - Major League Baseball Player
After being out for a meal with an old friend Charlie Hough broke his little finger. This doesn't have an epic twist or great back story leading to how it happened, it's actually rather simple. Before leaving Charlie and his friend shook hands which caused his pinky to break and cost him three games at the start of the season.
#9. Sammy Sosa - Major League Baseball Player
Sammy Sosa missed two weeks of a season with a back problem. He was in the middle of a press conference when a simple sneeze caused him to injure himself. After the sneeze Sosa suffered a bout of back spasms and was unable to compete for 2 weeks while getting treatment.
#8. Lionel Letizi - American Football Player
Similarly to Sammy Sosa, Mr Letizi also had a back spasm issue but we feel his reason is more ridiculous than a sneeze (it was a close one). Letizi injured his back and caused back spasms by bending down to pick up a Scrabble piece off the floor!
#7. David Batty - English Footballer
David Batty missed a number of games due to an ankle injury. The injury happened while Batty was minding his three year old daughter. She was playing on her tricycle when she suddenly collided with her father's ankle, injuring him and condemning him to 7th position on our list of stupid injury causes.
#6. Lionel Simmons - American Basketball Player
Back in 1989 a breakthrough in personal entertainment took place. It was called "The Gameboy" (Click Here For More Info). One of the devices fans was Lionel Simmons. Simmons played the Gameboy so often that he manage to give himself tendonitis in his hands. A critical injury for someone that relies on their hands to help them play their sport. He missed plenty of game time with the injury but opened the door to a possible Nintendo sponsorship.
#5. Darren Barnard - Welsh footballer
Barnard has spells with Chelsea and Barnsley during his career and was a keen dog lover. Barnard suffered a very lengthy lay off due to an unusual injury. While walking through his home he slipped on dog urine and damaged his knee so badly he was out of action for 6 months. On the plus side this gave him plenty of time to house train his pet and make sure the incident never happened again.
#4. Darren Fletcher - Scottish footballer
Darren Fletcher is one of the more well known victims on our list. If you know Fletcher one thing you would not associate with him is power and brute strength. But he has so much of it that he managed to pull a toilet door off its hinges and in the process hit and knock himself out cold with it. We're not sure how long he was injured for but it is a pretty serious injury from a highly unusual incident.
#3. Rickey Henderson - Major League Baseball Player
Yet another baseball player. I think there is a trend emerging here... This one is almost impossible to believe. Henderson was using an ice pack on an ankle problem he was suffering from when he fell asleep. He woke up with frostbite which led to him missing three games.
#2. Jose Theodore - National Hockey League Player
Theodore is a hockey goalkeeper. His injury seems legitimate. He injured his Achilles Tendon after slipping on ice. The embarrassing thing is that this didn't happen when he was playing, it happened as he was walking into his house. I'm sure his coach was happy when he heard this one.
#1. Svein Grondalen - Norwegian footballer
Gracing the number one position and 100% deserving of it is the unknown Svien Grondalen. Keeping his fitness up and doing his own training was how Svien suffered his injury. We don't like to knock committed sports people but this is the one occasion we think it's acceptable. Svien injured himself when he was out running and somehow managed to run into a moose. Yes, a moose! Enough said.
So next time you injure yourself and think the cause is too embarrassing to tell to your physio then think of these foolish causes. There is no way you could be worse than these.