Alex Smith and Joe Theismann both broke their right tibia and fibula while playing quarterback for the Washington Redskins. That’s a wild coincidence in itself, but the similarities between the two injuries go much deeper.
Both broken legs occurred in Washington D.C. Well, that’s not too crazy. After all, they both played for Washington at the time, so let’s dig a little deeper. Both injuries occurred on the same date 33 years apart. OK, that’s a little freaky, right? On November 18 in 1985 and 2018, both quarterbacks’ lives changed forever.
Smith and Theismann also both got hurt on the 39-yard line. The photos of both QBs being tended to on the ground look almost the exact same. But we’re not done. Both quarterbacks left the game, and both games finished with the same final score of 23-21.
There are two players in the history of the NFL who have won three Defensive Player of the Year awards — Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt. Taylor made the infamous tackle of Theismann in 1985, while Watt tackled Smith in 2018.
Incredibly, that’s not all. In both games in which the QBs went down, they were missing their Pro Bowl left tackles. Joe Jacoby and Trent Williams weren’t on the field to protect their quarterbacks those two fateful days.
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