10 Ridiculous Ways Pro Athletes Have Injured Themselves

From cooking soup to running a bath for kids, pro athletes have injured themselves in all sorts of strange ways in recent years.

Dustin Johnson at the 2017 Masters.
Image via USA TODAY Sports/Michael Madrid
Dustin Johnson at the 2017 Masters.

Dustin Johnson was the favorite heading into The 2017 Masters on Thursday. We say was because he’s no longer the favorite after what happened to him on Wednesday. In fact, he’s not even in The Masters anymore.

According to reports, Johnson—who is currently the No. 1 golf player in the world—suffered a devastating injury on Wednesday. He was walking around inside of a rental home near Augusta National Golf Club when he slipped down a flight of stairs and injured his back. And while he’ll likely be OK after taking some time to recover, the injury is unfortunately not going to allow him to play four full rounds of golf this weekend.

Johnson’s injury is bizarre, to say the least. But it’s probably not the most bizarre injury we’ve heard about in recent years. We’ve covered weird sports injuries in the past, but despite this, pro athletes keep on finding new ways to hurt themselves. Here are 10 other really weird ways pro athletes have injured themselves recently.

Breaking Up a Dog Fight

Athlete: Lindsey Vonn
Date: November 2015
What Happened? Vonn has, unfortunately, suffered a slew of injuries both on and off the ski slopes. But this is by far the strangest—and maybe most gruesome?—one. She was trying to get her dogs to stop fighting over a Frisbee when one of them bit her hand and sent her to the ER. So gross.

Scarfing Down Chicken

Athlete: Erick Aybar
Date: May 2016
What Happened? Eating chicken seems safe enough. Until you accidentally swallow a chicken bone and it gets lodged in your throat. That’s what happened to the then-Braves shortstop, who had to be sedated so that doctors could get the chicken out. Let’s hope the meal was worth it.

Giving the Kids a Bath

Athlete: Roger Federer
Date: May 2016
What Happened? Federer has managed to avoid major injuries throughout his career. But somehow, he couldn’t manage to avoid tearing cartilage in his left knee while running a bath for his twin daughters.

Falling Down the Steps

Athlete: O.J. Mayo
Date: March 2016
What Happened? Dustin Johnson isn’t the first pro athlete to fall down the steps and suffer an injury. Mayo did it, too, and he ended up in even worse condition. He broke his ankle during his fall and was sidelined for the remainder of the 2016-17 season.

Trying to Save an iPhone

Athlete: Darren McFadden
Date: June 2016
What Happened? There’s no pain like the pain that you feel when you drop your iPhone and crack the screen. So we can’t even blame McFadden for going to extreme measures to save his phone. But he ended up breaking his elbow in the process, which, now that we think about it, sounds more painful than dropping your phone. Especially when you make enough money to go out and buy a new one.

Breaking Into a House

Athlete: Taylor Heinicke
Date: July 2016
What Happened? Let’s be clear: Heinicke—a backup quarterback for the Vikings—was breaking into his own house when he got injured. Not that that makes it any better. It might actually make it worse. He was trying to break in after locking himself out and ended up accidentally putting his foot through a window and suffering a severed tendon in his left foot.

Cooking Soup

Athlete: Dez Bryant
Date: October 2016
What Happened? In his spare time, the Cowboys wide receiver apparently enjoys cooking soup. That’s what he was doing when he sliced his middle and ring fingers. He was cutting up some carrots and ended up putting himself on the sideline for a few days since he couldn’t catch any passes with his bandaged hand.

Fixing a Drone

Athlete: Trevor Bauer
Date: October 2016
What Happened? The Indians pitcher was repairing a drone during the ALCS last season when he accidentally sliced his finger. He tried to play through the pain associated with the injury, but his finger ended up splitting open in the first inning during his next start and sent blood pouring out everywhere.

Punching a Chair

Athlete: Enes Kanter
Date: January 2017
What Happened? The Thunder center hit a chair—and unfortunately for him, the chair hit back. He punched it at an awkward angle and caught his forearm on the metal part of it. As a result, he fractured his arm and was forced to miss a bunch of time for Oklahoma City.

Falling Through a Roof

Athlete: Brian Flynn
Date: February 2017
What Happened? The Royals pitcher was working on the roof of his barn right before spring training started when it suddenly gave way and sent him plunging to the ground. He sustained a broken rib, fractures in his vertebrae, and a spot on the DL before the season even started.

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