It was 35 years ago this month that legendary Washington Football Team quarterback Joe Theismann saw his career come to a premature end. Now 71 years old, the Super Bowl winner is having a case of Déjà vu. Like the rest of us watching from home, the horrific ankle injury Washington quarterback Kyle Allen suffered on Sunday brought back memories of Theismann’s own injury.
We’re not going to show it here. Rather, go ahead and click on this link if you want to see it. Simply put, Allen’s ankle turned in a direction that it’s really not supposed to.
Watching the game, Theismann had this reaction.
Perhaps the great quarterback in Washington history, Theismann is not wrong here.
It was Nov. 18 of 1985 that the NFL changed forever. His Washington squad was taking on the Lawrence Taylor and the New York Giants on “Monday Night Football.” That’s when Taylor laid a tackle on Theismann, ending his career.
Theismann suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula in his right leg. That was the last snap Theismann ever played in the NFL.
It also led to a new era of football. Teams started to value left tackles as a high clip, something that’s still the case today given the massive amount of money top-end players around the NFL make at this position.
Interestingly enough, Alex Smith replaced Allen under center for Washington on Sunday, just a few weeks after making his emotional return. It was two years ago this month that Smith suffered a foot injury that almost cost him his life. That came 33 years to the day after Theismann suffered his injury.
The moral of the story? It sucks to play quarterback for Washington in November.
Our thoughts are with Allen right now. That’s for sure.