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The Fastest Ways to Die in Professional Sports

It is often said that in order to succeed in a sport that you must devote your entire life to eating, breathing, and drinking its fundamentals. Many people argue that the athletes today would never give their life, body, mind or soul to the games they love so much. However, if you look at the long seasons, injuries, surgeries, and even deaths involved in the sports there is no way you can argue that they don’t care. Although the fundamentals of sports will never change, great strides have been taken to ensure that no athlete will ever have to give their lives in competition again. This article will not look at which sports “kill the fastest” or “are the deadliest”, but rather it will look at how the deaths or near deaths of these athletes have acted as a catalyst for officials to save the lives for others.

HOCKEY

Hockey poses the most gruesome instance of giving your life to play the game. Thankfully, this accident did not result in a death. However, it did open the eyes of the NHL commissioners and spark a series of equipment changes and safety overhauls. The date was March 22, 1989 and the Buffalo Sabers were taking on the St. Louis Blues. In the blink of an eye, St. Louis right winger Steve Tuttle broke loose with defender Uwe Krupp following close behind. As the Blues player blew by him, Krupp grabbed Tuttle, who then lost control as his feet left the ground. Standing in front of Tuttle’s flailing skates was the Saber’s goalie Clint Malarchuk. The image that unfolded was ghastly, heart wrenching, and would be burned into the minds of hockey fans for the rest of their lives.
Tuttle’s skate met Malarchuk’s throat mercilessly. The result was a gushing wound with blood spewing from his carotid artery. Malarchuk collapsed to the ground. The announcers stumbled to come up with words, three of his teammates vomited on the ice, and the scene induced heart attacks in two fans. It seemed like the end for Malarchuk, as everyone watched helplessly as he stumbled across the ice on hands and knees. Luckily, his trainer, a Vietnam veteran, ran onto the ice to pinch off Malarchuk’s artery and save his life. If it were not for the trainer, Malarchuk would have died in less than 3 minutes from loss of blood. In a post interview, Malarchuk added, “All I wanted to do was get off the ice. My mom was watching on TV, and I didn’t want her to see me die.” His determination and the help from the trainer is what saved is life.

Because of this accident, NHL officials sanctioned throat protectors to be worn by all NHL goalies. It was no longer the era of the “Jason mask”, but rather an era of putting an increased focus on safety . . . of the goalies. Similar incidents have happened to forwards and defensive men within the last decade. Bengt Åkerblom of Sweden died on the ice in 1995 from a laceration and earlier this year Panther’s forward Richard Zednik lost 5 units of blood as his artery was sliced. Although much could be done to increase the safety in hockey, not enough has been done to protect those “putting their necks out” besides the goalies.

NASCAR

Growing up in North Carolina, I would argue the death that had the most impact of any sport would be the passing of Dale Earnhardt during the 2001 Daytona 500 race. On the final lap of the race, Earnhardt was sideswiped and hit the wall head on at nearly 150 mph. The result was devastating as the “The Intimidator” lost his life on the track. The public was in shock, as we had just lost one of the all-time most influential figures ever in any sport. In what was known as the “Final Ride”, Earnhardt’s hauler made the long trip from Daytona back to Kanapolis, NC down I-85. Not one car dared to pass the hauler the entire trip, as traffic was reportedly backed up for 2 miles with all headlights on full beam.

The death of Earnhardt was not for granted, however. Shortly after his death NASCAR officials called for research to be completed on possible head restraints. Speedway physician Steve Bohannon stated that the cause of Earnhardt’s death was a faulty seatbelt, which caused his head to violently strike the steering wheel. Later that year, Nascar began mandating the use of the HANS device (Head and Neck Support Device), which has been saving lives since.
Like the Malarchuk accident, NASCAR officials realized that there was a danger that needed to be addressed and completed a safety overhaul before any more athletes were killed. Although the number 3 car will be missed sorely in the racing world, his death resulted in safer racing for future cars and drivers. These two examples show the proper response to accidents and the administration’s willingness to overhaul “tradition” for the safety of their athletes.

BASEBALL

When most people think about the dangers in baseball, the most common perception is the risk of getting hit in the head by a pitch. During the early days of the game, getting beamed in the head by a pitcher did cause a number of deaths in the sport. The commissioners responded by requiring batters wear helmets to reduce the chance of injury and death. However, a known but rarely addressed danger in the game has increasingly been brought to the spotlight in the realm of college baseball.

College baseball players are just as big, strong, and fast as the professionals. The only difference is the bats they swing. The collegiate athletes swing bats with sweet spots and recoil that could never be produced by their wooden components. In 2000 the NCAA authorized that the maximum ball speed for any ball leaving the bat was 97 mph, 1 mph slower than a wooden bat. This was done to address the dangers in pitchers getting lined by the batter following a pitch. But on July25, 2003 one game proved that this was not enough.

On this day, Brandon Patch was taking the mound in what would be his last game ever. During this game, his opponent was the much-anticipated cross county rivals, which boasted many D1 athletes or prospects. Brandon was just the average player on a team that would likely just end the season and their baseball careers. The opposing team featured Quinn LeSage, a 6’5’’ slugger that Brandon had managed to strike out earlier in the game. LeSage approached the plate and Patch gracefully began his windup. The pitch was delivered and all that was heard was a “ping” followed by a “thud”. Brandon collapsed back towards second place. He pulled himself into a sitting position and joked about how he “should have kept it down”. Soon after, Brandon collapsed and became unconscious. He would later die from swelling of the brain as a result from being hit on the temple.

This just goes to show that the athletes are growing stronger while the bats are growing more responsive. Everyone in attendance or saw the video of Brandon’s accident knew it was the speed and force of the ball coming off LeSage’s bat that resulted in his death. The NCAA and other baseball leagues have done nothing to address the dangers in aluminum bats other than making the “maximum” speed. With an enormous sweet spot and growing strength, today’s batters have much better chances of crushing the ball, in some cases at the pitcher’s head. This recently happened to Notre Dame pitcher Wade Korpi as he took a 100 mph line drive off his head. Yes, the gun clocked the ball at 100 mph as it came off the bat . . . not the “maximum” 97 mph.

Wade was hospitalized by made a full recovery. The same cannot be said about Brandon Patch. His mother and father remain in the fight to outlaw the use of aluminum bats. Unlike the Malarchuk and Earnhardt incidents, the baseball officials have been reluctant to address this safety issue and properly form a solution to increase safety for the throwers.

FOOTBALL

When it comes to playing a sport and head on collisions, nothing is as dangerous as a 250 lb beast with a 4.45 40 time running at you at full speed.  According to The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury, 325 men and boys have died either directly or indirectly from playing football at the high school and college level between 1982-2008 (26 years). Direct injuries are defined as those fatalities which resulted directly from participation in the fundamental skills of football (such as tackling and blocking). Indirect injuries are those injuries that are caused by systemic failure as a result of exertion while participating in football activity or by a complication which was secondary to a nonfatal injury (such as heart failure and heat stroke)

A few examples:

Chuck Hugues, a wide receiver with the Detroit Lions, died of a heart attack during a game against the Chicago Bears on Octiber 24th, 1971.

James Victor Cain, a tight end for the St. Louis Cardinals, died of congenital heart failure during training camp in 1979

More recently, Korey Stringer, offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings died during training camp after his core temperature rose to 108 Degrees!! Dying within 24 hours of severe heatstroke

Proffesional Wrestling

One does not have to look far in the history of professional wrestling to find tragedies and death. The life of a professional wrestler, despite all the showmanship, leaves the wrestler tired, hurting and in need of rest they will never get. The wrestling season is all year, with Monday Night Raw being the longest lasting weekly show on cable, with wrestlers being on the road 300 days a year. The culture and the leaders of professional wrestling turned a dangerously blind eye to the use of illicit drugs in the sport which made drugs commonplace and early death likely. Linda McMahon, however, is currently facing the music in her campaign for a Senate seat from Connecticut as former wrestlers blast her work with the WWE and their treatment of the wrestlers.

A few examples:

Eddie Guererro- Died in 2005 at the age of 38 of acute heart failure. Guererro throughout his career had suffered from alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers which was caused by the grueling WWE schedule. He also has been mentioned in steroid allegations by SI dating back to the early 2000s, before the WWE began testing wrestlers for steroids

Umaga- Died in 2009 at the age of 36 from an overdose of muscle relaxers, painkillers, and tranquilizers. All of which he picked up during his career as a wrestler.

Chris Benoit-  Maybe the most tragic instance of any sport was the double murder-suicide that Chris Benoit committed in 2007. Chris, his wife Nancy, and their son were all found dead in their house with Chris hanging from a weight machine, and the other two murdered. The reports say that Chris and his wife Nancy were heavily under the influence of drugs and Chris had drugged his son before strangling him. Further studies after Benoit’s death revealed that his brain had been so heavily beat up by years of wrestling, that it resemble the brain of an 85 year old Alzheimer’s sufferer.