http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21724631 Tim Howard is out injured after breaking two bones in his back! Ouch!
They aren't weight bearing bones and not part of his spine, so your title of the thread is somewhat misleading!
True, but it never gets in the way of a good story. <mediastudies> EDIT: Spineless was more of reference to the Everton team losing their GK.
Cliff "t'whippet" Braithwaite played with no head for the last 17 minutes of the Yorkshire Colliery first division trophy vase in 1913 for Burnley. He still went to work the next morning.
Sadly, he passed away a week after his head fell off. But he still went on to make a further 17 appearances that season, winning player of the year and top scorer awards. You see, it was his ability to ghost past defenders that did it.