OT: Who was the unluckiest athlete in memory?

Chumboshifko1 · Sunday at 11:45 AM

Tom Ricketts. Bum.

KingLando · Sunday at 1:06 PM

Moogy said:
She got stabbed in the back, recovered and won a Grand Slam title before marrying a sugar daddy billionaire 32 years her senior.

Compare to someone like Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash trying to help victims of a natural disaster. The end.

Seles was 19 and on her way to being the best in the world
Clemente was twice her age and at the end of his career
His death was tragic but it had almost zero impact on his career
Seles had already won 8 slams and the injury drastically alter the rest of her career. She lost 3 years in her prime--10 majors.
There's zero comparison. I still maintain marrying someone three decades older isn't a flex no matter how much cash they have

Lil Nicky Scarfo · Sunday at 8:25 PM

Sham. Had to compete against the incomparable Secretariat. Sham still has the 2nd fastest time for the Derby and 5th fastest for the Preakness.

Ludd · Sunday at 8:37 PM

How about Wally Pipp?

Bvillebaron · Monday at 9:57 AM

Ludd said:
You’re allowed to have a different opinion.

I do. Thanks for permitting me to do so.

Bvillebaron · Monday at 10:00 AM

Connorpozlee said:
Me. I have the weight to be an NFL tight end but am only 5’8. So damn unlucky.

Me too.

Bvillebaron · Monday at 10:02 AM

Lil Nicky Scarfo said:
Sham. Had to compete against the incomparable Secretariat. Sham still has the 2nd fastest time for the Derby and 5th fastest for the Preakness.

And Secretariat still has the fastest times in all 3 races that comprise the Triple Crown if memory serves.

bdgan · Monday at 10:27 AM

MtNittany said:
Maravich was amazingly unlucky, but was never stabbed or attacked.

* Born w/ only one ventricle
* Had to move constantly while young
* Played on lousy teams his whole life
* No 3-point line (except last season)
* 2 torn up knees that could have been fixed in 6 weeks today
* Predicted his own death

All time NCAA scoring leader when freshmen were ineligible and there was no 3 pt line or shot clock.

bdgan · Monday at 10:30 AM

Former PSU fullback and National Champion Steve Smith

bdgan · Monday at 10:30 AM

I'm pretty sure that Curtis Enis feels unlucky given the current state of college football

LionJim · Monday at 6:28 PM

There was this Penn State OT in 1977, Jim Brown, he had the potential to be another Charlie Getty, tore his knee up. Thought of him today for some reason.

KingLando · Monday at 6:37 PM

Ludd said:
How about Wally Pipp?

Wait--sorry--I may not know this....
Because he sat out and was replaced by Lou Gehrig is something I'm missing?

Ludd · Tuesday at 6:06 PM

Bvillebaron said:
I do. Thanks for permitting me to do so.

Some folks on here don’t allow it, haven’t you noticed?

Ludd · Tuesday at 6:07 PM

KingLando said:
Wait--sorry--I may not know this....
Because he sat out and was replaced by Lou Gehrig is something I'm missing?

He got injured and was replaced by Gehrig, never to get his starting spot back. If he wouldn’t have gotten injured, he may never have lost his spot. It’s not like he was a scrub.

LionJim · Tuesday at 6:20 PM

Ludd said:
He got injured and was replaced by Gehrig, never to get his starting spot back. If he wouldn’t have gotten injured, he may never have lost his spot. It’s not like he was a scrub.

Pipp had a headache, decided to sit out the game.

KingLando · Tuesday at 6:38 PM

Ludd said:
He got injured and was replaced by Gehrig, never to get his starting spot back. If he wouldn’t have gotten injured, he may never have lost his spot. It’s not like he was a scrub.

Fair enough--as @LionJim just mentioned--I always heard it was a headache but maybe that's just a story created over time.

Ludd · Tuesday at 7:34 PM

KingLando said:
Fair enough--as @LionJim just mentioned--I always heard it was a headache but maybe that's just a story created over time.

Depends on what kind of headache….if it was a migraine, he likely wouldn’t have been able to play.

KingLando · Tuesday at 8:04 PM

Ludd said:
Depends on what kind of headache….if it was a migraine, he likely wouldn’t have been able to play.

Again fair...I won't pretend to know specifics from his days.

AvgUser · Tuesday at 8:16 PM

NittPicker said:
Vinko Bogataj. I heard after his ski jumping career ended, he went back home to Slovenia to live his regular life. It wasn't until years later that he learned he was famous in the USA because of the Wide World of Sports clip. Famous, yet very few people knew is name other than being "the agony of defeat" guy.

I can say that I still knew his name without google help. Why? I have no idea. I’ve just always remembered it.

AvgUser · Tuesday at 8:22 PM

MtNittany said:
As far as Roberto Clemente, I think he was in his late 30's when the tragedy occurred. He had his prime, and it was a great prime.

I was thinking more athletically - athletes who, through no fault of their own - never got to their prime, or even got started (like Oden and KiJana).

True. I’ll say 38 when he died. Unlucky in life, he was.
Fittingly, God smiled upon him and allowed him to go out with exactly 3,000 hits. Additionally, I think he may be the only HLB HOF member for which the 5-year waiting period was waived.

jp3272 · Tuesday at 8:58 PM

The agony of defeat

Fac · Wednesday at 7:16 AM

Tony Conigliaro

Bob Feller

Lion84 · Wednesday at 9:22 AM

Ludd said:
Len Bias

Drugs are bad - tragic loss.

NittanyPirate · Wednesday at 6:51 PM

Serious answer: I quickly skimmed through 3 pages and saw Clemente but no Thurman Munson so I will say Munson.

Joke answer: Yadsloof Lirpa. Guy gets brought up every April but after 20 years has still not dressed for a game.

KingLando · Wednesday at 7:06 PM

NittanyPirate said:
Serious answer: I quickly skimmed through 3 pages and saw Clemente but no Thurman Munson so I will say Munson.

Joke answer: Yadsloof Lirpa. Guy gets brought up every April but after 20 years has still not dressed for a game.

Munson is a good nominee for this that I don't believe was mentioned.

Knickslions69 · Wednesday at 8:08 PM

Hank Gathers

Ludd · 2026-11-05T11:04:07-0600

The only correct answer is Roy Hobbs.

MtNittany · 2026-11-05T11:10:01-0600

KingLando said:
Munson is a good nominee for this that I don't believe was mentioned.

I loved Bobby Murcer and I loved Thurman Munson. If someone else was piloting his plane, I'd agree with you.

Chumboshifko1 · 2026-11-05T11:14:03-0600

Dear trolls, why are you responding to buried threads? HVFFA has been warned.

saturdaysarebetter · 2026-11-05T20:58:26-0600

Ludd said:
Len Bias

Unlucky? Stupid is more like it.

saturdaysarebetter · 2026-11-05T20:59:55-0600

Binder74 said:
I didn’t realize that he was from Aliquippa.

As was Tony Dorsett and Mike Ditka. Pretty impressive for a small steel town.

saturdaysarebetter · 2026-11-05T21:01:51-0600

Bvillebaron said:
And Secretariat still has the fastest times in all 3 races that comprise the Triple Crown if memory serves.

He is running like an incredible machine!

Cabinpenn · 2026-11-05T23:34:56-0600

Pat Tillman.

DailyBuck7 · 2026-11-06T00:55:44-0600

Marshall University football team. Second, Tony Lema.

ClydeKickstand · 2026-11-06T07:01:20-0600

Payne Stewart

Bob2022 · 2026-11-06T09:10:54-0600

KingLando said:
So, yes, Len Bias did make a choice that lead to him being "unlucky" but there's tons of NBA players (and people in general) that used cocaine and lived until there 60s (Michael Ray Richardson, Mitchell Wiggins, John Drew, etc) so there's definitely some bad luck involved even if self-inflicted.

My top 5 list
Sean Taylor
Monica Seles
Jerome Brown
Bobby Hurley
Reggie Lewis

Didn't Jerome make a choice, just like Pelle Lindberg? I wouldn't classify either as unlucky, very sad but not unlucky.

udsig91 · 2026-11-06T09:15:53-0600

Ludd said:
Len Bias

Unfortunately that was self inflicted.

KingLando · 2026-11-06T14:28:43-0600

Bob2022 said:
Didn't Jerome make a choice, just like Pelle Lindberg? I wouldn't classify either as unlucky, very sad but not unlucky.

Maybe I don't recall some of the Brown incident. Wasn't he just speeding? I don't equate that to using drugs but I see your point. Choices were made.

Chumboshifko1 · 2026-11-06T15:00:05-0600

Trolls= dumb.

Parkland Fan · 2026-11-06T15:02:46-0600

KingLando said:
Maybe I don't recall some of the Brown incident. Wasn't he just speeding? I don't equate that to using drugs but I see your point. Choices were made.

Bill Buckner. An excellent defensive player who will always be remembered for the one time he took his eye off the ball.

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