2. Jason Pierre-Paul blows off part of his hand
Some headlines seem too bizarre to be true.
The New York Giants were having a fairly uneventful offseason in 2015 until the morning of July 5 when news broke that Jason Pierre-Paul had blown off part of his hand in a Fourth of July fireworks mishap. In the April 18, 2016 edition of Sports Illustrated, Jason Buckland described the events that resulted in the freak accident:
"He attempted seven times to apply flame to fuse, to ignite a stick that would send a stream of colors rocketing into the night, but the wind kept blowing out his lighter. He remembers thinking, Let me try one more time. . . Suddenly, success—and then an eruption, a bang and a blinding green-and-white light that, witnesses say, swallowed Pierre-Paul’s 6′ 5″, 278-pound frame. “I remember a big flash, and I heard boom!” says Farraw Germain, the mother of Pierre-Paul’s then eight-month-old son, Josiah. “There was a lot of smoke.” Pierre-Paul sensed trouble right away. “As soon as I saw the green light, I jumped,” he says. “I knew something dangerous was about to happen.” Pierre-Paul dropped to the grass. But when he arose he smelled nothing, felt nothing. Then he heard Germain shriek in terror, “Your hand!”"
The Giants vaunted defensive end had suffered an injury that would result in the amputation of his index finger and other damage to his right hand. Pierre-Paul played fairly well for the New York Giants after his accident, but he did not match the productivity of his previous seasons with the team.
Hopefully, Pierre-Paul won’t help out with pyrotechnics this Fourth of July, especially since the Giants signed him to a $10.5 million, one-year deal.
Next: 1. Dan Snyder buys the Washington Redskins