When Hugh Goddard's foot buckled on Adelaide Oval a few weeks ago, the young key defender joined an exclusive club of global sporting royalty that includes Kobe Bryant, David Beckham and Jarryd Roughead.

While the names are glittering, this isn’t a coveted clique. They are all athletes who have the unwanted distinction of having ruptured their Achilles tendon on the parquetry, park or paddock of their respective sports.

The highly rated teenager may not have the runs on the board that Bryant, Beckham and Roughead do, but given his age in comparison to when the first two suffered the innocuous injury, he is well placed to come back bigger and better than before.

After undergoing surgery two weeks ago, Goddard is currently confined to a moon boot, in the early stages of a long-term recovery process that will sideline him for up to the next nine to 12 months.

On the back of the relatively uncommon injury, saints.com.au has taken a closer look at some famous sportsman who have suffered the same injury in recent years.

Perhaps the most famous athlete to ever rupture their Achilles tendon is recently retired Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Byrant. The five-time NBA Champion sustained the injury back in 2013 when pushing off to make a routine drive to the basket. In an instant, Bryant collapsed to the floor, immediately realising the significance of the injury.

“I was just hoping it wasn’t what I knew it was,” Bryant told ESPNLosAngeles.com during his recovery process. “I tried to walk it off hoping that the sensation would come back but no such luck.”

At 34 and in his 16th season in the NBA, one train of thought was age was a factor in the injury. Another belief was the enormous amount of minutes he had accumulated in the lead up. Neither were attributed to the freak injury.

After eight months of intensive rehabilitation, the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer returned against the Toronto Raptors. A knee injury affected his next season, but after overcoming the severe Achilles injury, Bryant played a further 101 games in LA’s famous colours before exiting in spectacular fashion by scoring 60-points in his final game to depart on a high.

 

Another global sporting phenomenon in David Beckham also suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the lead up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During his time at Italian giants AC Milan, Beckham’s left Achilles snapped when he put all the force on his left leg when changing direction late in a game at the San Siro.

The former England captain missed six months as he recovered from the injury, which was made more complex given the fact he was 34 at the time, before returning to play for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer.

“As positive a person as I am when I did the injury there are doubts that go through your mind. Am I ever going to play again?” Beckham told the BBC following his comeback game.

“Being back out there and being fit again and with the team it makes it sweet. When you have a serious injury like this it does cross your mind.”

While Beckham never represented his country again, the Manchester United icon played a further 57 games across three years at the Galaxy, where he won the 2011 MLS Cup.

He then drew his career to a spectacular climax in the French capital, playing with Paris Saint-Germain, where they claimed Ligue 1 – Beckham’s fourth different top flight championship.

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Four-time Hawthorn premiership star Jarryd Roughead is the highest profile AFL player to ever rupture his Achilles tendon. The Coleman medallist suffered the injury in the middle of 2011 when he stumbled in a ruck contest.

In a similar manner to Beckham’s incident, Roughead strained his left leg as his Achilles buckled under his weight, forcing him to be wheeled off the ground on a stretcher, ending his season in the process.

Unlike Bryant and Beckham, Roughead sustained the injury at the tender of age of 24, assisting him to make a strong recovery by the start of the 2012 campaign, following a stringent rehabilitation process.

“I didn’t get any holidays at the end of the year. You spend six weeks at the club by yourself. I was there when the boys were overseas watching soccer or basketball. That was my holiday,” Roughead told the Herald Sun following his return.

“I got to go to Noosa for a week because that’s where the physio was going and it was the only way I could take the girlfriend away.”

Despite some Achilles injuries curtailing the careers of other footballers, Roughead made a full recovery, playing in a further three premierships at the Hawks, as well as earning two All Australian guernseys and winning the 2013 Coleman medal.

Other famous footballers who have ruptured their Achilles tendons in the last two decades include North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow, Collingwood forward Anthony Rocca, Melbourne high flyer Russell Robertson and former Adelaide captain Nathan van Berlo.

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