Straight Dope Message Board

[Velocity]

Originally Posted by dalej42

We don’t have an off season thread yet, but it looks like Alex Smith will miss the entire 2019 season. Not exactly looking good for the Redskins.

Even without the leg injury, he's already 34 and played in 14 seasons. Ought to call it quits. It's not like he's on the cusp of a Super Bowl or something.

[ElvisL1ves]

FWIW, Theismann was 36 and never played again.

[Atamasama]

Originally Posted by Velocity

Even without the leg injury, he's already 34 and played in 14 seasons. Ought to call it quits. It's not like he's on the cusp of a Super Bowl or something.

I thought the same thing when I saw him carted off and saw how brutal the injury was. He’s not young, even a young guy might struggle to recover fully, and he wasn’t a top tier QB to start with (I’m not saying he’s bad but he’s not someone who elevates a team around him like Rodgers, Brady, Brees, etc.). Is there going to be that much interest when he’s 35/36 and wanting to get used to playing again?

If I were him I’d invest the millions I’d made, retire, and enjoy the opportunities available to a former long-time starting QB.

Then again, I’m not an NFL QB and don’t know what drives someone to get that far, so I might be completely off base.

[snowthx]

Originally Posted by Atamasama

I thought the same thing when I saw him carted off and saw how brutal the injury was. He’s not young, even a young guy might struggle to recover fully, and he wasn’t a top tier QB to start with (I’m not saying he’s bad but he’s not someone who elevates a team around him like Rodgers, Brady, Brees, etc.). Is there going to be that much interest when he’s 35/36 and wanting to get used to playing again?

If I were him I’d invest the millions I’d made, retire, and enjoy the opportunities available to a former long-time starting QB.

Then again, I’m not an NFL QB and don’t know what drives someone to get that far, so I might be completely off base.

Agree. How is his personality? Could he be recruited as a commentator on one of the networks?

[kenobi 65]

Originally Posted by ElvisL1ves

FWIW, Theismann was 36 and never played again.

True. On the one hand, Theismann's injury was 33 years ago, and there's been considerable advance in medicine (and sports medicine for the rehab) since then.

On the other hand, Smith suffered significant complications due to infection in the weeks that followed the injury, which required several additional surgeries, and has apparently weakened the bone considerably (at least in the near term).

A point of comparison (in addition to Bridgewater) might be Bears tight end Zach Miller, who dislocated his knee in a game in 2017. The incident also caused a tear in an artery in his knee, requiring emergency surgery, and he nearly lost the leg. He's now been rehabbing the injury, and strengthening the leg, for over a year, and remained under contract with the Bears in 2018. He's said that he hopes to be able to return to football at some point, but it remains to be seen if he'll ever be able to do so.

[jaycat]

Originally Posted by snowthx

Agree. How is his personality? Could he be recruited as a commentator on one of the networks?

That bar is pretty low.

[Atamasama]

Originally Posted by jaycat

That bar is pretty low.

Are we talking Jason Witten good, or Troy Aikman good...?

[dalej42]

Rob Ryan has s job again, he’s now the inside linebackers coach for the Washington Redskins. I’ve been following football for a long time and never knew they had a coach as specialized as that, I know teams have a linebackers coach but didn’t realize it got even more specialized. Guess he can’t do any damage there, but seems like a major demotion.

[kenobi 65]

Originally Posted by dalej42

I’ve been following football for a long time and never knew they had a coach as specialized as that, I know teams have a linebackers coach but didn’t realize it got even more specialized.

I think it's a fairly recent thing, but not uncommon now. Checking the Packers' web site for their new coaching staff, they, too, have separate coaches for ILBs and OLBs (as well as for TEs and WRs).

The Patriots only have one LB coach, but separate coaches for cornerbacks and safeties.

[SenorBeef]

It may be a bit redundant since we probably could've used this thread, but I went ahead and created a superbowl 53 game thread and commercials thread to keep it nice and neat and easy to find for people who normally don't participate in these threads.