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40 Years Ago, an NFL Legend Cut Off His Finger to Keep Playing Football (And Immediately Regretted It)

The NFL legend’s famously brutal injury story is remembered as toughness mythology, but Lott himself saw it as something more complicated.

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Even before he lost his finger, Ronnie Lott already had a reputation as one of the toughest, hardest-hitting defensive players in the National Football League. But one injury in 1985 would take his legacy from that of a man to that of a football god.

Lott, a safety for the San Francisco 49ers that season, broke his left pinky during a game against the Dallas Cowboys. A doctor gave him two options to fix it: get reconstructive surgery on the finger and miss a ton of games, or amputate part of the finger so he could keep playing that season.

Lott, who had no idea what the decision he was about to make would do to his football legacy, chose the amputation.

Ronnie Lott Cut Off Part of........

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