So Long, Comeback Kid
Greetings From The Booth!
A quick nod to Shenandoah University Baseball, which won it’s 20th game Monday (4-19) by beating 3rd-ranked Salisbury 12-1. That is a big feather in the Hornet’s (baseball) cap, and barring any stumbles the rest of the week, should mean a jump in the National d3baseball.com poll. SU Baseball just seems to reload each year.
This week, former Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith announced his retirement from football, ending a 16-year NFL career. Before his stint in DC, Smith played 7 years for San Francisco, and 5 for Kansas City, earning Pro Bowl honors 3 times, while throwing for over 35-thousand yards and 199 TD passes.
But he will forever be known for one of the greatest comeback stories in sports history. In 2018, his first year with Washington, Smith was in the process of leading the burgundy-and-gold to a playoff berth at 6-4, when he suffered a horrific compound fracture of his leg in a Week-11 loss to Houston. As he was carted off the field, I’m not sure anyone thought Alex Smith would play football ever again.
Except Alex Smith. After 17 surgeries and a life-threatening infection, he battled back. After missing all of 2019, Smith made his way back to the WFT roster in 2020, albeit as the number-3 QB. because of ineffective play by Dwayne Haskins, and injuries to Kyle Allen, Smith took over and led Washington to a 5-1 record as the starter down the stretch, and into the playoffs, earning him the 2020 AP Comeback Player of the Year honor.
Just to survive and walk again is a miracle in itself. To play at a high level in the NFL is almost inconceivable. Very few players get to leave the game on their own terms. Just ask Joe Theismann, who suffered an injury much like Smith’s, and saw his own career end on a Monday Night game against the Giants on national TV. Usually, a player exits either too early or too late.
This is the right time for Alex Smith.
Until the next visit from The Booth…GO HORNETS!
