Tom Brady

Quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots walks off the field with the aid of the Patriots staff after being injured on a play during their NFL game against the Kansas City Chiefs on September 7, 2008 at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Chiefs 17-10. 

In the first game of the 2008 NFL season, Brady was injured when he was struck on his knee by Kansas City Chiefs defender Bernard Pollard. The game was scoreless. And with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter, as Brady and the offense were engineering their first scoring drive of the season, the world froze. Brady failed to get up, screaming, nursing his left knee after a hit from the Chiefs’ Bernard Pollard. The quarterback’s 28 yard pass to Randy Moss turned out to be a fumble by the now-Hall of Fame receiver. And on top of that, Pollard was not penalized for the hit, which would be a penalty in 2018.

Brady collapsed to the ground in obvious pain and had to be assisted off the field by athletic trainers. After the game, Brady was examined and had an MRI that diagnosed him with a season-ending knee injury.

Brady had sustained an ACL tear as well as an MCL tear. ACL injuries can occur among professional athletes as either a noncontact injury or in a contact injury such as a tackle. Most ACL injuries are noncontact injuries in which the athlete was simply changing direction and the knee “gave out” from underneath their body.
However, in the case of Brady and many other football players, the injury occurred as the result of another player striking their knee.