Smith’s potential career-ending health issues serve as sober reminder that sometimes nothing can be done ... Feeling football-league fatigue ... Patriots rolling, as per usual
1. Washington Redskins QB Alex Smith remains hospitalized since breaking both the tibia and fibula in his lower right leg on Nov. 18.
NEWS: Reports Thursday said Alex Smith is dealing with a potential careerending complication from the compound double leg-bone break. Specifically, that an infection has set in following numerous surgeries.
The Redskins in a statement refused to confirm such details, but said “although this is a serious injury, Alex and his family remain strong. We would ask that everyone please honour the Smith family’s request for privacy at this time.”
VIEW: Medical professionals in sports are so good at what they do, we seldom hear of potential serious outcomes from such injuries as broken bones, muscle and ligament tears, etc.
Too often, we want to slot every injury within minutes of its occurrence in terms of a returnto-play timeline — and we just expect physicians and surgeons to perform their cutting-edge miracles without consideration of any after-the-fact issues a patient might encounter that might mess up the original ballpark timeline we all first heard about, and banked on it as fact.
Smith’s plight offers us sobering reminders that (a) some injuries are so serious that sometimes even the world’s best medical practitioners cannot prevent serious complications, and (b) the more gruesome the injury — as was Smith’s — the more the possibility there could serious complications, even lifethreatening.
Best wishes to Smith for a full and speedy recovery.
2. Can all these rival pro football leagues survive?
NEWS: Yet another was announced Thursday — the Freedom Football League (FFL).
That’s now three winter/spring/ summer American pro football leagues soon to launch, if you’re counting at home.
The FFL is created by some 50 former NFL players including Terrell Owens, Jeff Garcia
and Ricky Williams. At least 10 teams were announced to play, in a spring-to-summer timeline: San Diego Warriors, Oklahoma City Power, Portland Progress, Texas Revolution, Ohio Players, Florida Strong, Birmingham Kings, St. Louis Independence, Connecticut Underground and Oakland Panthers. The FFL did not announce an exact league startup date or year.
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) is scheduled to begin play on Feb. 9 – so in two months – with eight teams: Atlanta Legends, Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Orlando Appolos, Arizona Hotshots,
Salt Lake Stallions, San
Antonio Commanders and
San Diego Fleet. Head coaches include Steve Spurrier, Rick Neuheisel, Dennis Erickson, Brad Childress, Mike Riley and Mike Martz. Its championship game is slated for the April 2628 weekend.
Vince McMahon’s reprise of the XFL, meantime, is scheduled to begin play in early 2020, also with eight teams: in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay and Washington.
VIEW: Somebody, please, get all these folks into one room and figure out one league.
The odds any of them survive more than one season are low, if they can all even get off the ground.
Rival pro sports leagues just don’t last long. Without a major network TV contract to familiarize folks with teams and players, and help pay expenses, it’s almost impossible. Indeed, ever hear of an off-season rival to Major League Baseball starting up? The National Basketball Association? Or the National Hockey League? Exactly — no.
A confused market is even worse. Quick, recite more than four cities in any of the three football leagues you just read about, above. See?
The NFL desperately needs an American-rules feeder pro league, to develop players at all positions post-college, especially quarterbacks. Maybe it will align with one, to help the process along.
3. New England is on the verge of clinching yet another AFC East division title.
NEWS: Entering the last week of September, we all thought this really might be the year the New England Patriots’ remarkable run of consecutive division titles finally ended, at nine. They were 1-2, after consecutive double-digit losses at Jacksonville and Detroit, and 41-year-old QB Tom Brady was not playing well at all. Plus, Miami was 3-0.
Instead, since then, the Patriots are 8-1 and the Dolphins are 3-6. And between them the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills have seven wins and 17 losses.
So, same old same old.
VIEW: Are the Patriots playing great on offence? No. Is Brady playing as well, and looking as crisp, as he did even two years ago when he was named NFL MVP? No. Is the Patriots defence one of the league’s better units? No.
But Bill Belichick’s Patriots are 9-3, with games left at Miami, at Pittsburgh, vs. Buffalo and vs. the Jets. Gotta think they’ll win at least two, if not three. Or all four.
As the Twitter account Bostons Diehards informed on Tuesday, this decade
New England has been either 10-2 (four times) or
9-3 (five times) every dang year after 12 games. Talk about consistency. And great coaching.
The Patriots now just need one win or tie in the last quarter of the season to clinch their
10th straight AFC East title. Not only has no NFL team ever won its division 10 straight years, no NFL team ever has reached the playoffs in 10 straight seasons. Ever. The Pats currently are tied with Dallas (1975-83) and Indianapolis (2002-10) with nine post-season berths in a row.
Oh, and with one more win the Pats can tie the 1983-98
San Francisco 49ers for the most consecutive seasons with double-digit victories – 16.
The last time New England didn’t win at least 10 games was 2002. When Bills rookie QB Josh
Allen was six years old, and Jets rookie QB Sam Darnold was five.
Sheesh.