Brett William Backwell (born 18 May 1980) is a former Australian rules football player who achieved some international notoriety in 2005 when he had a finger amputated to enable him to continue his chosen sport.
He spent much of 2001 playing in Carlton's stand-alone reserves team in the Victorian Football League (VFL), where he won the J. J. Liston Trophy for best and fairest.
Lured to South Australia by West Adelaide in an effort to rekindle his AFL career, Backwell quickly shone at this lower level of competition, finishing fourth in the Magarey Medal.
Selection in SANFL state teams followed 2003, 2005 and 2006, including the 2003 win over Western Australia, earning him the Fos Williams Medal for a best-on-ground performance.
[2] In 2006 Backwell won the highest individual award in the league, the Magarey Medal, a feat heightened after he elected to have a finger amputated twelve months earlier.