Everyone in football was amazed to see Alex Smith complete his incredible comeback this past season after sustaining a devastating leg injury two years earlier. And Smith may be ready to surprise the football world once again by playing in 2021.
Smith, who many expected to ride off into the sunset after the Washington Football Team was eliminated from the playoffs, did not announce his plans for the future in an interview with “60 Minutes” which aired Sunday, but he did hint about wanting to continue playing in the NFL.
"This year has only emboldened, for me that I can play at this level," Smith told CBS' Norah O'Donnell.
Of course, if Smith decides he wants to play in 2021, it may not be in Washington. While he is under contract for two more seasons, the team can release Smith and suffer only a $10.8 million cap hit. It would cost $24.4 million if Washington kept the soon-to-be 37-year-old quarterback and with the team in need of a reliable starter, Smith's salary may be too big to keep.
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Smith's interview with CBS revealed he reportedly sustained a bone bruise on his surgically repaired right leg, not a calf strain as had been reported on the team's injury report.
The injury likely occurred in Washington's Week 14 game against the San Francisco 49ers. Smith was seen on the sideline receiving treatment late in the first half before he was replaced by Dwayne Haskins after halftime. He would miss Washington's next two games before playing in the season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles when Washington clinched the NFC East title. However, the injury kept him out of the team's playoff defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The day after Washington was eliminated, Smith left the door open about returning, saying "that’s something that right now I’m still just living in the moment and not getting ahead of myself. That is for another time and place.”
"I had so much fun this year, especially given all the covid stuff,” he said. “But to be back in the locker room, to be on the field with the guys, to be playing a game I love and to lose yourself in it, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world. You cannot duplicate it outside of here."
The interview also revealed how close Smith came to losing his leg to amputation after he developed an infection and was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating bacteria, and Smith's body developed stage-two sepsis.
With the medical team considering amputating his leg, Smith's wife, Elizabeth, spoke to Dr. Robin West, Washington's team doctor, and said she wanted them to get rid of it, a decision that was supported by Smith's family and his father.
"I just want him to live and walk out of here," Dr. West recalls Elizabeth Smith saying. But when Dr. West went to speak to the veteran quarterback, she recalls him saying, "Do what you can to save my leg. Do anything you can to save it."
Eight operations over a ten-day period removed the dead or infected tissue and began the months-long process for Smith to eventually return to football including months wearing an external fixator.
When asked on "60 Minutes" why he decided to risk playing at age 36 after over 600 days out of football and after 17 surgeries on his leg, Smith said, "I'm not crazy. I wasn't gonna do this if I didn't, you know, obviously, hear from the experts.
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"And so to hear finally from the experts that, 'Okay, you can.' For me, a bit of a gut check, you know. Do I really wanna do this? Do I put myself out there, walk across those white lines potentially again in live-action with some of the greatest athletes in the world."
Did he find it exhilarating or nerve-wracking to return to play on the field which nearly cost him his leg and his life? "Both," he said.
"I feel like I've had a lot of people reach out to me, saying they feel like my mom, you know when I'm playing. And how concerned they are for me," he added.
Elizabeth Smith, who said she felt like she was "going to vomit" watching him play for the first time, said she understands why some people were nervous about his return to the NFL.
"I understand people's apprehension. I have the same apprehensions," Elizabeth Smith said. "But I think it's bigger than football. That's what I tell people. It's not about the game. It's about what happened and getting back on your feet and dusting yourself off, no matter what the obstacle is."
After watching Smith return from a devastating injury, it would be foolish to discount him playing again next season, too.
Follow @BenKrimmel for the latest.
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