Philly Sports fans are no stranger to despair. One can argue we are experts in it. Maybe not to the level Detroit sports fans are, but we have a different type of despair. We have the despair that follows hope.

From injuries to collapses to chokes, we have been through it, even though our teams have had success. We saw that this year with the 10-1 Eagles falling apart. And while the Phillies have been amazing this season, some recent injuries have fans sliding right back into despair.

Related: Bryce Harper Is Already An All-Timer

Bryce Harper Gives Us A Scare

The latest is Bryce Harper. Now, his injury is not season ruining. He came up lame running down the 1st base. Thankfully, the very next day we learned it would only be a short Il stint. 10-14 days per Rob Thomson.

Despite it not being a worst-case scenario, the initial instinct of many was to panic. Kyle Schwarber getting hurt at the same time only made it worse.

Harper’s injury is minor, but we have had our share of devastating injuries.

Career enders, season enders, we have dealt with it all. So while we dodged the bullet with Bryce Harper , lets take a look back at some of the worst injuries we have ever had to deal with.

From one of the greatest Flyers ever battling concussions, to a big acquisition going bowling, to a torn ACL making us think a magical season was over. We have been through some bad times.

Here Are The 9 Most Devastating Injuries In Philly Sports History:

• Joel Embiid’s Meniscus Injury Derails Historic Season

  Sadly there were a lot to pick from for Joel Embiid. The fractured orbital bone a couple years ago stands out as another bad one. But I wanted to keep it to just 1 of his injuries. For me, the worst one was this season, the meniscus.

  Embiid was having a historic season. The word historic here is not an exaggeration. Before the injury, Embiid averaged over a point per minute. Only 1 other player in NBA history, Wilt Chamberlain, accomplished that feat.

  Nick Nurse had Joel Embiid playing his best basketball yet. The Sixers, with Embiid on the court, were better than any team in basketball, short of the Celtics. The injury derailed it all though.

  Embiid was back in time for the playoffs, but he was not the same. He still played exceptionally well, but he was clearly battling through something. By the end of every game, he could barely jump. None of his teammates apart from Maxey picked him up, and the Sixers went out in the 1st round.

  Adrian Wojnarowski on X (formerly Twitter): "Sixers star Joel Embiid has an injured lateral meniscus in his left knee and will be out through the weekend while a treament plan is finalized, sources tell ESPN. / X"

  Sixers star Joel Embiid has an injured lateral meniscus in his left knee and will be out through the weekend while a treament plan is finalized, sources tell ESPN.

• Carson Wentz Tears His ACL

  Obviously in the end, everything worked out for the Eagles. Nick Foles struggled at first in Wentz’s place, but he was near perfect in the NFC Championship game and Super Bowl, getting Eagles fans their first ever Super Bowl parade. 

  But at the time, I don’t think I have ever seen Eagles fans so dejected. Wentz was the MVP. He was playing out of his mind, and the Eagles were the best team in the NFL. So when he went down, it felt like everything was over. 

  No one had faith in Foles. There were people genuinely calling for Nate Sudfeld over him. But Foles stepped up when it matters. Still, in the moment, this was perhaps the most devasting injury in Philly Sports history.  

  

• Ryan Howard Tears His Achilles

  This one hits me the hardest, because it hurts you in so many ways. For one, it ended the 2011 season. They won over 100 games that season, just to go out in the first round of the playoffs.

  But to make it even worse, it pretty much derailed the career of one of the best hitters in Phillies history. Howard was never the same after this. 2011 was the last season he ever hit 30+ homeruns. In fact, pretty much all of his stats never got back to what he did in 2011, which was already down from his career norms.

  It hurt in the moment, seeing Howard collapse as the greatest regular season in Phillies history went up in smoke. It hurts even more now knowing it represented the end of the Ryan Howard era, and that it would be the last chance they got in the playoffs for another decade.

• Eric Lindros Suffers Multiple Concussions

  This is more a series of injuries as opposed to just 1 individual one, but the multiple concussions suffered by Lindros had to appear on this list. They were what wound up ending his time in Philadelphia.  

  The Flyers handled it all so poorly. Concussions were not taken as seriously then as they are now. But Lindros was understandably not happy with how the organization handled it. He openly criticized the Flyers for failing to diagnose them properly, leading to him suffering additional concussions. Bobby Clark responded as poorly as a GM could ever respond. He punished Lindros and stripped him of Captaincy.  

  Lindros missed most of the regular season as he battled concussions, and even suffered another 1 while rehabbing. He was eventually able to return for game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. But in game 7, he took a nasty hit while crossing the blue line and suffered yet another concussion.  

  Lindros, a restricted free agent, missed all of the following season, before eventually behind traded. It was a terrible way for the career of arguably their most talented player ever to end. Thanks Bobby Clark. 

• Chris Pronger’s Career Ending Injury

  Pronger suffered multiple injuries in his time with the Flyers, but he one we are talking about here is the career ender. 

  After blowing up the team in 2011 by trading Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, there was some level of hype around a new-look Flyers tram, with Pronger as the Captain. But early in the season, he took a stick to the eye. He missed 6 games, came back for 5, but then was “Out Indefinitely” with concussion-like symptoms.  

  He never played in another game. For the next several years, Paul Holmgren tried desperately to fill the Pronger gap. The Hail Mary was a massive offer sheet to Shea Weber. But the predators matched it.  

  Pronger’s injury derailed that entire era. Not that they would have won anything if he was healthy, but they would have at least had a chance. Flyers haven’t been competitive since. Now, with Michkov coming over, is the 1st time there has been any real reason for hope. 

• Terrell Owens Breaks A Leg

  Much like the 2017 season, the hype around the 2004 Eagles was crazy. With Terrell Owens, the Eagles were a machine, and seemed destined for the Super Bowl. Then 7 weeks before the Superbowl, TO broke his leg. They went on to make the Super Bowl anyway, and TO came back early to put on a heroic performance in that Super Bowl. But they lost. And when the injury first happened, it felt like the sky was falling.

  NFL Legacy on X (formerly Twitter): ""I'm on half a leg and they can't stop me."The time @terrellowens played in the Super Bowl seven weeks after breaking his leg... and caught nine passes for 122 yards.(Super Bowl XXXIX: Feb. 6, 2005) @Eagles pic.twitter.com/qY5oNHiI2p / X"

  "I'm on half a leg and they can't stop me."The time @terrellowens played in the Super Bowl seven weeks after breaking his leg... and caught nine passes for 122 yards.(Super Bowl XXXIX: Feb. 6, 2005) @Eagles pic.twitter.com/qY5oNHiI2p

• Andrew Bynum Hurts Himself Bowling

  Andrew Bynum was supposed to be the Sixers savior. I don’t know if I have ever seen a wilder introductory press conference, with Sixers fans showing up in droves. Too bad he never played a minute here. He was already recovering from one injury, but then he went bowling, injured himself again, and missed the entire season. The next off-season he was gone. That whole blockbuster trade, and they had nothing to show for it.

  The failure of that move is what led to the Process.

• Andrew Toney’ Career Derailed By Stress Fractures

  Toney is silently one of the best players in Sixers history. You don’t have to take my word for it, ask his teammates. Dr. J called him a Hall of Famer. Charles Barkley said Toney was the best player he ever played with. Most people who played with him will tell you he was on the path to greatness.  

  So why is he not often included in that conversation? After his 2nd straight All-Star appearance, Toney started experiencing pain in his feet. The Sixers owner at the time had to audacity to question if Toney was faking it, but we eventually found out he was dealing with stress fractures in his feet.  

  He played parts of 3 more seasons, but was never the same guy. Just like that, The Boston Strangler’s once promising career was over. From a potential Hall of Fame trajectory, to out of the league at 31 years old.

• Danny Tartabull’s Career Ends After 3 Games

  Much like Bynum was supposed to be the Sixers savior, Tartabull was supposed to be that for the Phillies. His name was not quite as big, but he was coming off a 27 HR season, something the Phillies hoped he would replicate here.

  The problem is in his first game he fouled a ball off his foot, breaking his toe. he played just 3 total games with the Phillies. He fell 27 HRs short of what they wanted him to give them, and they finished 5th in the NL East.

  High Heat Stats on X (formerly Twitter): "Today in 1997, the Phillies signed Danny Tartabull as a free agent.Tartabull broke his foot in his first at-bat with the team, and ended up playing only 3 games before retiring. pic.twitter.com/PfBuFjJabc / X"

  Today in 1997, the Phillies signed Danny Tartabull as a free agent.Tartabull broke his foot in his first at-bat with the team, and ended up playing only 3 games before retiring. pic.twitter.com/PfBuFjJabc

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