History Main / ICouldaBeenAContender

* Rom from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is an absolute genius when it comes to engineering who could have very easily thrived had he pursued a career in that field, but instead chose to follow [[ProudMerchantRace Ferengi]] cultural expectations and become a businessman (which he has zero talent for). This is what motivates his son Rom to join Starfleet because he knows that he isn't cut out to be a businessman either and [[LoserSonOfLoserDad doesn't want to make the same mistake]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted for Rom as well, as just before the [[GrandFinale series finale]] he's appointed to be the new Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance, so that he can oversee the transition of Ferengi society into a democracy.]]

* American Football safety Nick Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler with the Green Bay Packers who had set records with his interception returns, was on the path to a Hall of Fame career until a freak accident on a routine play in 2011 left him with a herniated disc in his neck. Collins was forced to undergo major spinal surgery[[note]]incidentally the same procedure that ended the career of another Packers player, Sterling Sharpe, 16 years earlier[[/note]], and [[CareerEndingInjury was never able to play professional football again]]. Collins did get several standout years and a Super Bowl ring prior to the injury, but he could have been one of the best safeties of his era if his career hadn't been cut short.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports; he has [[https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/11/10/the-other-brother-like-his-famous-father-archie-and-younger-siblings-peyton-and-eli-cooper-manning-had-nfl-caliber-talent-then-his-body-betrayed-him admitted]] to wishing he could have played professionally like his brothers did, but it's not because he wanted the fame or success so much as that he just loved playing football and wishes he could have had a chance to make a living out of it.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports; he has [[https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/11/10/the-other-brother-like-his-famous-father-archie-and-younger-siblings-peyton-and-eli-cooper-manning-had-nfl-caliber-talent-then-his-body-betrayed-him admitted]] to wishing he could have played professionally like his brothers did, but it's not because he wanted the fame or success so much as that he just loved playing football so much and wishes he could have had a chance to make a living doing it.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports; he has [[https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/11/10/the-other-brother-like-his-famous-father-archie-and-younger-siblings-peyton-and-eli-cooper-manning-had-nfl-caliber-talent-then-his-body-betrayed-him admitted]] to wishing he could have played professionally like his brothers did, but that has less to do with desiring fame or success and more to do with the fact that he loved playing football and wishes he could have had a chance to make a living doing something he enjoyed so much.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports; he has [[https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/11/10/the-other-brother-like-his-famous-father-archie-and-younger-siblings-peyton-and-eli-cooper-manning-had-nfl-caliber-talent-then-his-body-betrayed-him admitted]] to wishing he could have played professionally like his brothers did, but that has less to do with desiring fame or success and more to do with the fact that he just enjoyed playing the game so much and would have loved to have made a living doing it.

* The QuincyJones series ''In The House'' had Music/{{LL Cool J}} play a football star who gets taken out by a knee injury, and starts a gym. His leg eventually heals, and he gets back in the game. Guess what happens?

* Literature/PhineasFinn.

* Deconstructed in the film ''The Fan''. Creator/RobertDeNiro's character is convinced that he could have been a major league baseball player and latches onto Creator/WesleySnipes' character as someone to live vicariously through. Things go downhill fast. [[spoiler:Near the end of the movie, it turns out that De Niro's character had never played ball beyond ''little league'']].

* In a less extreme example, any number of athletes have lost their chance at the Olympics because of an ill-timed injury. Since the Olympics occur only once every four years, even if the injury wasn't career-ending, that sometimes turns out to be their ''only'' chance at an Olympics, because an athlete who was in the prime of their career leading up to one Olympics may be past his or her peak by the time the next Games comes around. (This is especially true in some sports, like women's gymnastics, where ''most'' athletes' peaks are a few years at most.)

* ''Manga/SilverNina:'' In his high school days, Shutaro wanted to hit it big and own his own company. Ten years after graduating, however, he's forced to return to his small hometown in failure and poverty, kicking off the plot as he becomes his niece Nina's primary caretaker.

* ''Anime/ZombieLandSaga'' takes this to its furthest extreme with IdolSinger Ai Mizuno, who was [[HighVoltageDeath killed by a freak lightning strike]] right around the time she'd risen to the top of the charts and sold her first CD. Once she's reanimated as a zombie, she discovers that the world has largely moved on without her, remembering her more for her untimely death than her accomplishments in life, while she is unable to return to a society that would fear and shun her as an undead monster if she were to step into the light of day again. Her character arc is about her finding her second wind with Franchouchou, an idol group of zombies disguised as the living, once she gets over the sheer absurdity of the situation.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports. He has [[https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/11/10/the-other-brother-like-his-famous-father-archie-and-younger-siblings-peyton-and-eli-cooper-manning-had-nfl-caliber-talent-then-his-body-betrayed-him admitted]] to wishing he could have played professionally like his brothers did, but that has less to do with desiring fame or success and more to do with the fact that he just enjoyed playing the game so much and would have loved to have made a living doing it.

* American Football safety Nick Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler who had set records with his interception returns, was still in the prime of his career going into the 2011 season and could have remained as a star of the Green Bay Packers defense for several more years if not for a freak accident on a routine play in Week 2 that left him with a herniated disc in his neck. Collins was forced to undergo major spinal surgery[[note]]incidentally the same procedure that ended the career of another Packers player, Sterling Sharpe, 16 years earlier[[/note]], and [[CareerEndingInjury was never able to play professional football again]]. A somewhat downplayed example, since Collins did have several standout years and a Super Bowl ring, but he could have accomplished a lot more yet if not for the accident.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports. He has [[https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/11/10/the-other-brother-like-his-famous-father-archie-and-younger-siblings-peyton-and-eli-cooper-manning-had-nfl-caliber-talent-then-his-body-betrayed-him admitted]] to wishing he could have played professionally like his brothers did, but that has less to do with desiring success and more to do with the fact that he just enjoyed playing the game so much and would have loved to have made a living doing it.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports. He has admitted to wishing he could have played professionally like his brothers did, but that has less to do with desiring success and more to do with the fact that he just enjoyed playing the game so much and would have loved to have made a living doing it.

* Subverted by the Manning Family. While father Archie Manning was an NFL quarterback in the '70s (a good player on the abysmally bad Saints teams at the time) and both Peyton and Eli are Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks (Peyton with the Colts and Eli with the Giants), there's a third Manning brother, Cooper (the oldest, actually), who was a hot prospect wide receiver in high school before a diagnosis of a spinal condition ended his career. He's not bitter about it, having gone into finance and later on getting his own football analysis show on Fox Sports.

* [[spoiler: Yata/Wiseman]] in ''VideoGame/{{Dot Hack GU}}'' was once quoted as having a tremendous enthusiasm for football. His career ended up after he got a career-ending injury, ending his hopes of going pro. He's now one of the shareholders of CC Corp at ''seventeen'', yet he's still DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife

* ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'' has [[spoiler: Hideo]], who was apparently a genius baseball pitcher before getting caught up in a terrorist attack and suffering a career-ending injury. Particularly of significance in the [[spoiler: Wanko and Ryuuzetsuran]] routes.

* In ''Anime/YuGiOhTheMoviePyramidOfLight'', Joey distracts a number of duelists who want to challenge Yugi so that he can escape. When Yugi comes back and asks if the coast is clear, the duelists all charge at him and run over Joey and Tristen. Tristen tells Joey that they [[SarcasmMode respect him alright]], while Joey just mumbles that he could have been a contender.

* In the mid-'90s, people thought that the Music/DaytonFamily was going to be the next big {{gangsta rap}} group. However, they were derailed by legal troubles and never made it out of their underground fanbase in Flint, Michigan.

* On ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'', Doburoku Sakaki blew his chance at a professional sports career when he injured himself while recklessly trying to finish the [[TrainingFromHell Death March]] by himself. He seems to take it in fairly good stride though and respects the drive and camaraderie of the Devil Bats.

* ''Anime/MawaruPenguindrum'' provides another music example. Double H, the two idol singers that are all over the place, were originally Triple H before Himari's illness forced her to quit the band.

* American Football safety Nick Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler who had set records with his interception returns, was still in the prime of his career going into the 2011 season and could have remained as a star of the Green Bay Packers defense for several more years if not for a freak accident on a routine play in Week 2 that left him with a herniated disc in his neck. Collins was forced to undergo major spinal surgery[[note]]incidentally the same procedure that ended the career of another Packers player, Sterling Sharpe, 16 years earlier[[/note]], and [[CareerEndingInjury was never able to play professional football again]].

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': In "End Run", SGT. Billy Tyler, a former college football star suffers a severe leg injury in combat and his dream of playing in the N.F.L. is dashed when Hawkeye has to amputate it.

* American Football safety Nick Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler who had set records with his interception returns, was still in the prime of his career going into the 2011 season and could have remained as a star of the Green Bay Packers defense for several more years if not for a freak accident on a routine play in Week 2 that left him with a herniated disc in his neck. Collins was forced to undergo major spinal surgery [[note]]incidentally, the same procedure that ended the career of another Packers player, Sterling Sharpe, 16 years earlier[[/note]], and [[CareerEndingInjury was never able to play professional football again]].

* American Football safety Nick Collins, a three-time Pro Bowler who had set records with his interception returns, was still in the prime of his career going into the 2011 season and could have remained as a star of the Green Bay Packers defense for several more years if not for a Week 2 freak accident on a routine play that left him with a herniated disc in his neck. Collins was forced to undergo major spinal surgery [[note]]incidentally, the same procedure that ended the career of another Packers player, Sterling Sharpe, 16 years earlier[[/note]], and [[CareerEndingInjury was never able to play professional football again]].