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 · 2026-11-03T18:06:27-0600

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

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

Ludd · 2026-11-03T18:07:34-0600

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 · 2026-11-03T18:20:55-0600

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 · 2026-11-03T18:38:55-0600

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 · 2026-11-03T19:34:40-0600

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 · 2026-11-03T20:04:00-0600

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 · 2026-11-03T20:16:40-0600

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 · 2026-11-03T20:22:44-0600

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 · 2026-11-03T20:58:49-0600

The agony of defeat

Fac · 2026-11-04T07:16:12-0600

Tony Conigliaro

Bob Feller

Lion84 · 2026-11-04T09:22:02-0600

Ludd said:
Len Bias

Drugs are bad - tragic loss.

OT: Who was the unluckiest athlete in memory?

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