Tiger Woods recently returned from knee surgery and resumed his domination of golf by beating Sean O’Hair at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Here are some other injured athletes who have refused to lay down and die:
Willis Reed: Many attribute the Knicks’ Game 7 win over the Lakers in 1970 to the distracting ripping sounds made by Reed’s thigh muscle as it slowly tore in half from top to bottom
Michael Jordan: In the famous “Flu Game” of the 1997 finals, an ailing Jordan was able to score 38 points because no one on the Jazz wanted an NBA title enough to risk catching the flu
Kirk Gibson: In his only at bat of the 1988 World Series, Gibson won Game 1 for the Dodgers despite being no more than a quivering blob of boneless flesh
Mark Prior: After missing the first three months of the 2006 season with a strained shoulder, Prior was able to fight back to the majors and strain his left oblique hard enough to miss the rest of the season
Dan Marino: In 1993, Marino tore his Achilles tendon and came back the next year to play one of his best seasons statistically and once more not win a Super Bowl
Takeru Kobayashi: Once overcame an acute case of nausea to eat 58 bratwurst
Lance Armstrong: Armstrong not only came back from the loss of a testicle to win seven Tours de France, but actually turned the condition to his advantage in the arena of being able to enjoy Sheryl Crow albums
Joe Theismann: Just one year after a Lawrence Taylor hit gave him a compound leg fracture, Theismann proved his doubters and naysayers wrong by successfully putting on a pair of pants
