What happened to Jason Pierre-Paul's hand? Revisiting firework accident that destroyed DE's hand

During the Jul. 4, 2015, celebrations, Jason Pierre-Paul suffered injuries to both hands in a freak fireworks accident.

Pierre-Paul held on to the fireworks for too long, and they went off in his hand, leading him to lose a huge chunk of his finger. Four days later, his right index finger was amputated.

Following that, most NFL analysts expected Pierre-Paul to announce his retirement, but the South Florida alum had other plans. Pierre-Paul went on to play half of the New York Giants games for the season, recording 26 tackles, two fumble recoveries and one sack. He has since established himself as one of the better defensive ends in the NFL.

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Jason Pierre-Paul's career earnings

According to Spotrac, Jason Pierre-Paul has earned $103,921,767 during his 14-year NFL career. The three-time Pro Bowler has played for four teams and has made millions with all four franchises.

Pierre-Paul's breakthrough came with the New York Giants, where he spent the first eight years of his career. Pierre-Paul made $56,692,245 with the Giants and helped them stay respectable for the most part.

He then joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018 and played four seasons. During that spell, Pierre-Paul won a Super Bowl and earned $45,850,000 in total for four years of work. He also got the chance to play with future first-ballot Hall of Famers Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

On leaving the New England Patriots, Pierre-Paul joined the Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, and most recently, the Miami Dolphins.

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Jason Pierre-Paul's NFL legacy

Jason Pierre-Paul was a talented player in college, even though he spent three years at three different colleges. Pierre-Paul was drafted by the New York Giants in round one of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Since then, the Deerfield Beach, Florida native has won two Super Bowls, earned a first-team All-Pro nod in 2011, three Pro Bowl selections and numerous franchise records.

These days, Pierre-Paul is winding down his career, which many thought would end after that gruesome fireworks incident, but the NFL icon never stopped working hard.

Jason Pierre-Paul has a career stat line of 629 combined tackles, 94.5 sacks, five interceptions, two touchdowns, 66 pass deflections, 21 forced fumbles, 10 fumble returns, and one returned for a touchdown in 179 games.

He has won two Super Bowl games, one with the New York Giants and the other with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.