Almost four years to the day (November 18, 2018), the Houston Texans came to FedEx Field to play Washington in a game which is now remembered mostly for one horrific play.
With just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, Washington faced a 3rd & 9 at the Houston 24, trailing 17-7. The play was first very disappointing because Alex Smith dropped back and a Houston blitz was entirely whiffed by the offensive line, resulting in Smith being sacked by Kareem Jackson for a loss of 13 yards.
Not only did Jackson sack Smith, but J.J. Watt arrived just after Jackson and also landed on top of Smith. The result was a broken fibula and tibia for Smith. Human bones being stronger in compression than torsion, Smith suffered a compound fracture and a spiraling fracture.
The spiraling upward effect of the fracture resulted in many screws inserted into Smith’s leg in a process called Plate and Screw Fixation. But soon Smith experienced inflammation and infection, quickly resulting in muscle and tissue that died and would not recover.
Smith would lose to infection his anterior tibialis and doctors needed to perform skin grafts from Smith’s upper thigh down to his lower leg. The rehabbing efforts of Alex Smith were frankly, nothing short of extraordinary.
With the loss of his anterior tibialis, Smith was unable to simply control the descent of his right foot to the ground in simple walking. As a result, film of Smith learning to walk again on a treadmill revealed his right foot “slapping” the treadmill every single time in his walking gait.
He worked and worked daily, to increase the strength and control in his leg, and after missing all of the 2019 season, Smith returned in 2020, not only to the roster, but actually started six games, playing in eight.
Washington won the NFC East, and though the last three weeks of the season, Smith’s leg again kept him out of the lineup for two of those games and the playoff game, he was voted the NFL Comeback Player of the Year for his inspiring rehabilitation and return to the NFL as a starting quarterback.
