The Nastiest Injury in Sports

The Nastiest Injury in Sports
FOXBOROUGH, MA - DECEMBER 8: Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski catches a 21-yard pass from quarterback Tom Brady and is hit by Cleveland safety T.J. Ward's helmet directly to his knee. Gronkowski suffered a season ending torn ACL and MCL. The New England Patriots hosted the Cleveland Browns in an NFL regular season game at Gillette Stadium. (Photo by Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - DECEMBER 8: Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski catches a 21-yard pass from quarterback Tom Brady and is hit by Cleveland safety T.J. Ward's helmet directly to his knee. Gronkowski suffered a season ending torn ACL and MCL. The New England Patriots hosted the Cleveland Browns in an NFL regular season game at Gillette Stadium. (Photo by Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

To be honest, it doesn't look like much. It's short, just over an inch in length, and stubby, about half an inch wide. It is white, slick, and striated like a cluster of angel-hair pasta. It isn't rubbery, and it doesn't have much elasticity. In fact, you wouldn't give it a second thought — not until it self-destructed, which it occasionally does, always at the most inopportune of times. And then you wouldn't think about much else but that gremlin that now sits at the center of so many of our games.

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