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The Best Of The Worst Self-Inflicted Sports Injuries

By: Ryan Wooley

With the recent hand injury to Amare Stoudemire that is forcing him to miss game 3 of the Knicks playoff match up with the Heat, it got me thinking about the dumbest sports injuries caused by the athletes themselves, as he had to have 15 stitches in his hand after punching in the glass of a fire extinguisher cabinet.

Of course there are plenty of local ones that come to mind like Brandon Inge fluffing a pillow for his son which caused him to strain his oblique muscle, or Joel Zumaya's two where he strained his wrist while playing Guitar Hero and having a box fall on his shoulder. But what are the best of the worst injuries?

The first one that came to my mind was Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte who delivered a head-butt to the wall after scoring a touchdown which resulted in a concussion.

Gus Frerotte Headbutts Wall by knot4u1 on YouTube

I get he was excited, but what on earth would possess anyone with the thought of slamming your head into a wall? I don't care that he had a helmet on and the wall was padded, there is no justification for slamming your head into anything.

New York Jets v Washington Redskins
Plaxico Burress (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

How about Plaxico Burress who famously shot his own leg while inside a club? I understand the gun discharged by itself inside his sweatpants, but isn't that the bigger crime in and of itself? Wearing sweatpants to a club? He should have received an extra year of prison time just for that.

Anyone remember Bill Gramatica? He nailed a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter of a game and jumped around like he just won the Super Bowl, and then landed wrong and tore his ACL.

Guess someone should have told him it was only 3 nothing at that point.

Bill Gramatica Celebration Fail by Andrew Barron on YouTube

And last but not least, how about Sammy Sosa? In 2004 he was sitting in the dugout and sneezed multiple times spraining a ligament in his lower back.

Chicago White Sox v Texas Rangers
Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers in 2007. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

It's not the first incident of an MLB player sneezing and suffering an injury, but did raise the question if he sneezed prior to the 2005 congressional hearing where he conveniently forgot how to speak English. Maybe the sneeze played a role in that too!

I know there are plenty more to choose from but I felt these were the tops ones.

If you would like to add to the list, feel free to leave your comment below or send me a message on Twitter: @WooleyMammoth85.

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