Forty or 50 years ago, an achilles injury was a career ender. I remember when my favorite team, the Colts, lost Alan Ameche, a former Heisman winner, I believe it was 1960, to an achilles injury. But of course in 1975, if you had a knee ligament tear, that was still a career ender.
These days, medical treatments for such things, often have a guy back in less than a year, depending on the specific. But an achilles is still no bueno.