While Sunday’s 31-9 Super Bowl victory by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the defending NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs was an exercise in shock and awe, the NFL’s annual awards ceremony conducted the evening before America’s big game equally provided its share of unforgettable memories.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as expected, received the league’s most valuable player award while Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry was named the league’s offensive player of the year. Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald earned recognition as the league’s defensive player of the year while Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was recognized as the league’s offensive rookie of the year.
Other major award winners included defensive end Chase Young of the Washington Football Team as the league’s defensive rookie of the year, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski as the league’s coach of the year and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson as the league’s coveted Walter Payton Man of the Year award-winner.
Perhaps the most deserving of the awards presented was to Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith, an alumnus of Bonita Vista Middle School and Helix High School, as the league’s comeback player of the year.
At 36, Smith is the oldest player to win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award since Peyton Manning did so in 2012.
Smith also named the league’s comeback player of the year by The Sporting News and Pro Football Writers of America.
Smith was honored by The Sporting News on Jan. 21 in a poll of the league’s players. The publication noted that more than 90 percent of the players polled voted for Smith, who returned to lead the Washington Football Team to an unlikely playoff berth after missing nearly two years on the field due to a catastrophic leg injury — and a brush with death.
Smith suffered a spiral and compound fracture to his tibia and fibula in his right leg while being sacked in a game on Nov. 18, 2018, against the Houston Texans. He subsequently underwent 17 surgeries as a result of life-threatening sepsis over a period of nine months.
Though heavily sedated at the time, Smith he said he remembered making the decision to save the leg and not undergo amputation.
As part of his recovery, he wore an external fixation device for nearly a year. He was placed on the team’s physically unable to perform reserve list in 2019 and missed the entire season. It wasn’t the first time that Smith had been sidelined by an injury. He missed the 2008 season because of a shoulder injury while with the San Francisco 49ers.
Smith declared his intent to return to football and, following a successful recovery, was cleared by doctors to resume football activities in July 2020. Washington activated him on the roster on Aug. 16.
His first game appearance during the 2020 season did not occur until Week 5 when he relieved starter Kyle Allen in a game against the Rams. It was a brutal return: Smith completed nine passes for 37 yards and was sacked six times in a 30-10 loss.
Smith made his next appearance in Week 9 when Allen left the game with a dislocated ankle that ultimately sidelined him for the season. Smith, shaking off the rust, passed for 325 yards and a touchdown in a 23-20 loss to the New York Giants.
The former Highlander earned the starting quarterback job for what turned out to be six games, winning the final five to place his team in playoff contention after a 2-7 start. Smith passed for a career-high 390 yards in a 30-27 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 10 but picked up his first win since the injury in a 20-9 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11 in which he passed for 166 yards and one touchdown.
Showcased on national television the following week, Smith showed his determination in a 41-16 victory against the host Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day by passing for 149 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Smith attracted major media interest when he engineered a stunning 23-17 upset win over the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers (11-0) in a Week 13 matchup in which he passed for 296 yards and one touchdown.
He started the next game against the 49ers, his former team, but left the game at halftime due to a calf strain in his right leg. He missed the next two games but returned for the team’s final regular season game against the host Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 3. Smith, despite having limited mobility, completed two touchdown passes in a clutch 20-14 win as Washington clinched the NFC East title and the NFL’s final playoff berth.
Smith’s season ended there as he was unable, due to lingering soreness in his calf, to participate in Washington’s Super Wild Card Weekend game against Tampa Bay, a 31-23 loss behind stater Taylor Heineke.
Smith appeared in eight games total this past season. He completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 1,582 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions. However, he proved his worth to the team with a 5-1 record as the team’s starting signal-caller.
Washington finished regular season play 7-9 — 2-8 without Smith as the starter behind center.
Former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann, whose career ended in1985 at age 36 because of a similar injury, called Smith’s return to the playing field “one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.”
Theismann called Smith’s odyssey “the living, breathing embodiment of resilience and courage.”
Smith called the injury and its aftermath a “life-altering experience.”
“Two years ago, I was sitting in a wheelchair wondering, ‘Had the life I had known changed forever?’ Anger. Pity. Self-doubt. Why me?” Smith said as he began his recorded acceptance speech. “These were feelings I’d had at certain points throughout my career, but this time it wasn’t about football. It was bigger. It was about me being a father and playing with my children, a husband to go on walks with my wife, and despite my new limitations, me getting my life back.”
His acceptance speech touched on many emotions.
“My goal was football, not because I actually thought it was a reality, but because I knew my life would be better because of it. Fighting the fear surrounding my new leg with the pursuit of something bigger and a life lived without regret. It took 728 days — 728 days of small victories and major setbacks, of countless hours of physical therapy and just as many sleepless nights.”
Smith acknowledged he did not complete this comeback alone, crediting his team of doctors, nurses and staff at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus. In that same thought, he thanked all the front-line workers across the country who have sacrificed so much this past year.
Smith spent time at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Texas, a rehabilitation facility to treat amputees and burn victims, where he underwent rehabilitation alongside many of this country’s wounded warriors. He said his time spent there proved to be a major turning point in his recovery.
“It wasn’t until my time at the CFI, a military rehabilitation center, where I truly realized how fortunate I was,” Smith said. “It was an honor of a lifetime to rehab alongside some of our country’s bravest, who sacrifice life and limb for us to play a game we all love. It was also there where they first put the football back in my hand … thank you for challenging me and allowing me to dream big again.
“This has been a road to recovery that I didn’t walk alone. I share this award with every single person who has helped me along the way, but none more so than my wife, Elizabeth, and our three kids. I love you more than you could ever know. You have given me motivation, strength and support that I couldn’t get anywhere else. I hope that I have made you at least half as proud as you have made me every day.
“To my teammates in the locker room, this past season is something I will cherish forever. Thank you for your encouragement and believing in this old man once again.
“To anyone out there going through hard times, know better days lie ahead. Embrace all that life has to offer. There are no ups without the downs. Honor every single day and remember, just live.”
Words of wisdom spoken by someone who has been there.
“Alex Smith was an inspiration to us all this season,” Washington head coach Ron Rivera offered in praise. “Being able to see his comeback firsthand was one of the most incredible moments of my coaching career. He is a tremendous man and one of the finest leaders that I have ever coached.”
“Alex has had every opportunity to back away and walk away from the game, and nobody would think twice,” Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin said. “But for him to be so resilient, that not only shows the world what you can do when you put your mind to something, but I feel like it motivates our team because you have a guy who tries to put us in the best situation to be successful.”
“What Alex Smith has done is unbelievable,” Houston defensive end J.J. Watt, who was in on the play that caused Smith’s leg injury in 2018, posted on his Twitter account. “Comeback Player of the Year even before taking a snap. But playing winning football after everything he’s been through is even more incredible.”
ALEX SMITH FILE
- Smith became the first player in Washington franchise history to win the AP/NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award and the first NFC East player to earn the honor since Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick did so in 2010.
- Smith became the third consecutive quarterback to win the award, joining current Tennessee Titan signal-caller Ryan Tannehill (2019) and former Indianapolis Colt Andrew Luck (2018).
- In his final five starts of the 2020 season, Smith went 5-0 to lead Washington to its first division title since 2015.
- Smith became the ninth quarterback in Washington history to record five-plus games completing more than 68 percent of passes in one season.
- Smith, with 199 career touchdowns, moved into a tie with Phil Simms for No. 46 on the NFL’s all-time passing touchdown list.
- In Week 13, Smith eclipsed 1,000 passing yards for the 12th time in his career.
- Smith has appeared in seven NFL playoff games, including five with the Kansas City Chiefs, with 14 touchdowns and two interceptions while passing for 1,745 yards.
Super Bowl notepad
Super Bowl LV, watched by 91.63 million viewers in the United States, pitted the Chiefs (AFC champions) against the Bucs (NFC champions) and was billed as a battle between quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City) and Tom Brady (Tampa Bay). Despite Mahomes’ obviously superior athleticism, Brady won the battle to claim his seventh Super Bowl championship – an NFL record – in 10 appearances.
Brady completed 21 of 29 passing attempts for 201 yards and three touchdowns without an interception for a 125.8 quarterback efficiency rating while Mahomes completed 26 of 49 passing attempts for 270 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions for a 52.3 quarterback efficiency rating.
Rob Gronkowski, who followed Brady out of retirement to Tampa Bay, caught six passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns while Antonio Brown had five catches for 22 yards and one touchdown, Leonard Fournette led the Bucs on the ground with 16 carries for 81 yards and one score.
Kansas City actually out-gained Tampa Bay 350-340 yards in total net yards but the Bucs held a decisive 145-107 edge in net rushing yards.
The Chiefs were limited to three field goals by Harrison Butker (49, 32 and 52 yards). Butker opened scoring but Gronkowski put the Bucs ahead, 7-3, at the end of the first quarter on an eight-yard touchdown catch.
Tampa Bay extended its lead to 21-6 at halftime on a 17-yard TD reception by Gronkowski and a one-yard scoring pass to Brown while Butker added another field goal to narrow the score to 14-6 with 1:01 showing on the clock. But Brady marched his team down the field to hit Brown with just six seconds left before halftime to five the NFC champions a 15-point lead.
The Chiefs scored the first points of the second half on Butker’s third field goal in the game to make the score 21-9 but the Bucs closed out the game with 10 unanswered points — a 27-yard touchdown run by Fournette and a 51-yard field goal by Ryan Succop in the third quarter. Neither team scored in the final quarter as Mahomes was constantly harried by the Tampa Bay defense.
The Chiefs, who were led by tight end Travis Kelce’s 133 receiving yards on 10 catches, finished the season with an overall 16-3 record while the Bucs finished 15-5. Succop was the final pick in the 2009 NFL draft by Kansas City.
