Two years after gruesome leg injury, Alex Smith poised to star on Thanksgiving Day

A little more than two years after Alex Smith suffered a life-threatening leg injury, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback is poised to be a star of the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day action.

Smith will start for the Washington Football Team on Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys a month and a half after making an improbable and stunning return to the field. The 36-year-old Smith is tasked with leading a Washington team that can temporarily assume sole possession of first place in the NFC East with a win on Thanksgiving, but Smith’s comeback story supersedes any talk of the standings and a playoff race.

Nov. 18 marked the two-year anniversary of the day Smith suffered a spiral fracture in his right leg in the third quarter of a Week 11 game against the Houston Texans.

The injury is considered one of the most severe in NFL history as Smith developed an infection in his leg that resulted in sepsis, requiring him to undergo 17 surgeries, endure four separate hospital stays and lead doctors to consider amputation above the knee. A muscle transfer surgery that took part of his left quadricep ultimately saved Smith’s leg, but his NFL future remained in serious jeopardy.

Smith wore an external fixator on his right leg for eight months and at the time it was removed in July 2019, there was still doubt as to whether or not Smith would ever suit up again. On Thanksgiving Day, he’s leading the Washington Football Team into Dallas and searching for his second win since taking over the starting job.

Even after returning to the Washington practice fields this summer, Smith wasn’t expected to play a significant role for head coach Ron Rivera’s team this season. 2019 first-round draft pick Dwayne Haskins was named the team’s starter and former Panthers quarterback, Kyle Allen, followed Rivera to Washington to serve as the primary backup.

After Haskins lost his grip on the starting job and Allen suffered an injury in Week 5, Smith took over and went 9-for-17 for 37 yards while being sacked six times in mop-up duty against the Los Angeles Rams. The stat line was hardly reflective of the Smith fans had seen during his prime, but simply making his way back into an NFL game was a remarkable accomplishment.

Six weeks later, Smith has now thrown for more than 900 yards and owns a 68% completion percentage. The former No. 1 overall pick of the 49ers isn’t lighting up opposing defenses, but an impressive second-half showing in a 30-27 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 10 suggests Smith may have the ability to lead Washington to a surprise playoff berth in the NFC East.

Regardless of how Smith performs down the stretch, he’s destined to win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award and certain to have his journey back to the field highlighted on broadcasts of Washington games.

Two years ago, it seemed nearly impossible to envision Smith back on an NFL field. On Thanksgiving Day, he’s part of the league’s main course.