Although Green Bay general manager Ron Wolf tried replacing Noble with second-round draft pick Mark D'Onofrio, that plan failed when D'Onofrio suffered a career-ending injury and never saw the field.
Noble was still near the top of his game in 1993, and optimism surrounded the Packers after the free-agent acquisition of Reggie White.
But in the second game of the year against Philadelphia, things came to a sudden halt for Noble. He had been terrorizing the Eagles all afternoon, shutting down running back Heath Sherman in the hole on a pair of occasions and nearly taking off wideout Calvin Williams' head on a downfield route.
But on the second play of the fourth quarter, Eagles guard Mike Schad met Noble head-on during a sweep play. Noble's right knee got caught underneath Schad and buckled, resulting in total dislocation of the knee that would eventually end his career.
"My timing was brutal," Noble said. "It was like taking a chicken wing and snapping it. It really sucked."