On this day, November 18th in 1985, the Washington Redskins lost their quarterback to one of the most horrific injuries ever broadcast on live TV.
Joe Theismann suffered a horrific compound fracture of his leg while being sacked by New York Giants linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson during a Monday Night Football game at RFK Stadium.
Theismann said during a 2005 interview with the New York Times:
“The pain was unbelievable, it snapped like a breadstick. It sounded like two muzzled gunshots off my left shoulder. Pow, pow! It was at that point, I also found out what a magnificent machine the human body is. Almost immediately, from the knee down, all the feeling was gone in my right leg. The endorphins had kicked in, and I was not in pain.”
An ESPN poll voted it, the NFL’s “Most Shocking Moment in History”.
The Washington post dubbed it, “The Hit That No One Who Saw It Can Ever Forget”.
Which is absolutely true. You can’t unsee it no matter how hard you try.
But here it is if you dare…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mznBvAGScdg