BY: MCADOO
Last Sunday we all witnessed the return of a very special quarterback. Alex Smith returned to play against the Los Angeles Rams at Fedex Field. Just 693 days after being injured against the Houston Texans at the same stadium.
With his family watching in the stands (his wife probably the most nervous person in Landover at the time) Alex Smith walked onto the field that I am sure if it was a full stadium everyone would have given him a standing ovation. It wasn’t a memorable game for Smith or Washington, they lost 30-10 but it meant a lot more than the scorebook said.
On November 18, 2018 Alex Smith got sacked by JJ Watt and would get a compound fracture in his leg. This happened 31 years after Joe Theisman, on the same day, on the same field, at around the same yard line.
After his first couple surgeries he almost lost his leg. Alex Smith was getting an infection in his leg from the surgery and the doctors had to hurry up and figure out what type of infection it is and how to fix it. The doctors did and after 17 surgeries spanning nine months his leg was fixed. The journey to the field wasn’t over though.
While he was away rehabbing Washington selected Dwayne Haskins in the 2019 NFL Draft to replace him. He missed the entire 2019 season and was inactive for the first four weeks of this season, but after Haskins was benched and inactive for week five Smith was named the backup to Kyle Allen. Kyle Allen got injured early in the game and Smith got his chance. I have never been a big Alex Smith fan or disliked the guy, but you have to admire the fact that he didn’t give up.
Smith was 34 when the injury occurred and very easily could’ve called it a career. Instead though he decided that he was not done and powered through. This is a story that all of us need to recognize and use it for inspiration.
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