There are countless injuries in college football every weekend, but few as crazy as the one that Virginia Tech’s left guard, junior Greg Nosal, suffered in Saturday’s win over Central Michigan.

At some point in the game, Nosal got one of his pinky fingers caught between two helmets. The tip of the finger was severed – from the middle of the fingernail up. Tech’s medical staff found that piece inside Nosal’s glove.

(You have to imagine that’s a blood-stained glove Nosal would like to keep to show his grandkids one day.)

Despite the horrific injury, Nosal wanted to go back into the game. The medical staff put a dressing and cast on the finger and gave Nosal some pain medicine.

As for the tip of his finger, it was wrapped in gauze and put on ice, to keep the tissue fresh, until the end of the third quarter, when trainers told Nosal he had to go back into the locker room and get the thing sewn on. 

And that’s why Nosal was unable to attend postgame interviews – because he was getting his finger stitched back together.

Tech’s head trainer, Mike Goforth, believes Nosal will be fine. Or at least as fine as a guy can be after getting one of his digits partially lopped off.

And for those of you who want to feel old, it has been 25 years – or four years before Nosal was even born – that Ronnie Lott had the top of his left pinky finger amputated. It did not happen during a game, but rather, after the 1985 season. Still, it remains one of the crazier football injury stories, and it sounds like Lott’s on-field finger injury was worse than Nosal’s – not to downplay Nosal’s, of course.

Anyway, here is a story recounting how Lott lost part of his finger.

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