I think Alex Smith wanting to play football is admirable.
With that being said if you can’t even walk straight, you probably shouldn’t be out on the field.
This isn’t normal and football is a violent sport.
As West explains, Smith does not yet have full control over his right foot, which is why he wears a sleeve and brace on his leg. During surgery, Smith had muscle and artery transferred from his left leg to his right so the bone could heal.
Smith can still plant his foot and make throws, but he doesn’t have dorsiflexion, which is used to flex the foot up when walking or running.
So while most people’s concerns are centered around Smith’s leg breaking again after taking a hit from a defensive lineman, his physician is more worried about compensation injuries stemming from the limitations we noted earlier.
“We [told Smith]: ‘ You can go play. You can do whatever you want. Now, are you at higher risk for something else for your knee or your ankle?” West said “Potentially. You’re playing a contact sport where it’s a very, very high-risk sport.’ I mean how many times does a guy sprain his ankle and then he tears his ACL the next week? We see that a lot.”
Flip the page for the viral video of Alex Smith still having a hard time walking.