Football is full of strange injuries, from non-contact ACL tears to pre-game warmup mishaps. But the most bizarre incident in NFL history happened off the field on Oct. 9, 2003.
Inside the Jacksonville Jaguars’ locker room, punter Chris Hanson picked up an ax and took a swing at a tree stump. He missed the wood and hit his own leg, leaving the floor covered in blood. The unfortunate accident ended his season for good.
More than twenty years later, it is still the strangest injury the league has ever seen.
Former Jaguars punter Chris Hanson suffered gruesome injury in bizarre locker room ritual
Context matters here. After three straight losing seasons under Tom Coughlin, the Jaguars hired Jack Del Rio as head coach heading into 2003. Del Rio came in with a clear message for an urgent cultural overhaul. His slogan was “keep chopping wood.” Nahoryt of the coaches say that and move on, but Del Rio took it further.
Punter Chris Hanson (6) punts the ball Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Punter Chris Hanson (6) punts the ball Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Following a 0-3 start to his rookie season, Rio installed a large oak stump and a sharp, double-bladed axe in the center of the locker room to symbolize his slogan.
For roughly two weeks, the team embraced the ritual, often spraying wood chips across the locker room’s teal carpet until Hanson took a turn with the ax. The blade either missed the mark or bounced off the stump, burying itself in his right.
🚨🚨INSANE STORY🚨🚨
In 2003, #Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio decided to put an ax and tree stump in the locker room as a way to motivate his players.
During the season, lunter Chris Hanson was hit by the ax and sliced his leg open.
The most insane #NFL injury ever.
😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/5xjkftB3jB
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) February 27, 2026
When the team’s head athletic trainer arrived, he found Hanson sitting on the locker room floor in a pool of blood. He required emergency surgery. Rio later admitted the motivational prop was “on its way out, but just not soon enough.”
His leg was placed in a boot for four to six weeks. He was placed on the non-football injury list. Under NFL rules, teams are not required to pay players on the NFI list because the injury occurred outside of team activities. However, the Jaguars publicly committed to paying Hanson his full $375,000 salary for the 2003 season.
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The injury effectively ended a season that could have been a solid campaign. However, it was severe enough for Ryan to note it could have been fatal without fast action.
The axe itself was not destroyed; it was kept by the team’s director of facilities, Mike Perkins, who reportedly still has it in his office as a piece of “Hall of Shame” memorabilia.
Interestingly, this wasn’t even Hanson’s first “freak” injury. A year earlier, in 2002, he and kicker Jaret Holmes suffered severe burns when a fondue pot overturned at Hanson’s house. However, he returned to the field and eventually suited up for the Saints and Patriots before retiring in 2010.