There hasn’t been much to be joyous about in 2020, however, this past weekend gave us all a reason to smile. Washington quarterback Alex Smith returned to the football field.
Head coach Ron Rivera made the decision to bench Dwayne Haskins. Instead of having Haskins back up Kyle Allen, he chose Smith as quarterback number two. Allen got injured on a play and Smith entered in the rain.
The Rams weren’t going easy to take it easy on Smith. In fact, on his third play defensive stud, Aaron Donald sacked Smith leaving him on the turf. Smith had to be relieved to get his first hit out of the way. He bounced back up and got set for the next down. He got sacked five more times, definitely not the warmest of welcomes.
When asked about how he felt after the game Smith said,
“The feeling, the range of emotions, the good, and the bad, is why I fought so hard to come back. Sometimes you can take it for granted, and certainly being away from it a couple years … I’ve missed it.”
It was two years ago that Smith suffered a gruesome leg injury. Despite immediately having surgery, Smith was absolutely not out of the wood yet. In total, he underwent seventeen surgeries, not just to save his leg, but to save his life. Smith developed sepsis and truly was in the fight for his life.
He finished the day completing nine out of 17 passes for 37 yards. If Kyle Allen is not healthy enough to play, Smith will become Washington’s starting quarterback. They can cancel the remainder of the season honestly there won’t be a better moment than this.
