Alex Smith Reveals Winning Comeback Player of the Year Was ‘Very Special’
Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith of the Washington Football Team needed some encouragement that his right leg would work properly after two years and 17 operations away from the game. But frankly, there wasn’t much hope for his comeback.
However, he returned to play 700 days after being injured by J.J. Watt’s sack, which left him with a complex spiral fracture in his right leg and one of the most devastating injuries in NFL history. As soon as he returned, he was sacked again, and this time by the Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.
“Hopeless Legs”
Despite the fact that his limb had been properly rebuilt (with 28 screws and three plates), the road to recovery and eventual comeback had been a lengthy, complicated, and scary process for Smith.
His leg was once afflicted with necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease. Smith subsequently developed sepsis, an infection-related condition in which the body’s immune system destroys its own tissues, leaving him with two options: amputate his limb or undergo a series of surgeries to preserve it.
Neither choice was ideal, and neither gave Smith, a former first-round choice, much hope of returning to football. However, he did it. He returned to the football field and finished his career with immense respect.
“The award was special”
Recently, Alex Smith appeared in the ESPN show, “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”, where he was asked about his thoughts on winning the Comeback Player of Year” honors.
In response, the former Washington Redskins quarterback said, “Yeah, I mean I think the award was special. It’s not something I set out to do again. I never thought it was realistic. I never thought I’d actually make it back out on the field.”
“You know it was so it was so weird a ton of support it was covid, so there’s no fans. So going back to when I played there was there was no heightened energy. There were no fans in any of the stadiums right, especially at home games. So it was always a little different from an energy standpoint but it definitely was amazing to get a lot of the love from even the opposing teams when I did get to visit with them”, he continued.
Speaking of the support he got from the players, the 37-year old said, “Obviously over 16 years you accumulate a lot of friends across the league and then my own teammates. They were so amazing throughout that process supporting me and all the steps you know from my first practice rep then like the game when I first got the dress and all the way to you know obviously getting to start six games you know. My teammates were there to be with me and to really kind of to be that energy for me and you know support me along the way was it was amazing. And that’s also you know the big reason you come back for that camaraderie you just can’t get that bond anywhere else. And so for me, it was, really special and obviously the entire year to get all of that back and something I never thought I could.”
The Comeback King
Alex Smith has been a true inspiration for athletes all over the world, irrespective of the sport they are involved in. Smith fought his way back into Washington’s roster as the third-string quarterback with the aid of rehab experts, where veterans who have suffered blast wounds are treated for comparable afflictions.
Not only he recovered but he became the starter by the season’s end, winning five of his six starts and leading the team to the playoffs. No wonder why Smith was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year a few weeks ago.
