Here's a blurb from Peter King's MMQB article talking about Steve Smith, the play that broke his arm and the toughness that ensued afterward.
Full MMQB article
Steve Smith says his broken forearm is "a minor nuisance.'' Right away in the NBC viewing room at Rockefeller Center Sunday, when Smith got slammed by Giants safety Michael Johnson as he gathered in a pass from Matt Moore near the goal line, Rodney Harrison said, "His arm's broken.'' Harrison knows about broken arms. He broke his in the Patriots' third Super Bowl game this decade, against Carolina, and stayed on the field for the rest of the series though he knew it was broken.
"Toughest wide receiver in football,'' Harrison said of Smith.
Toughest player, I'd say.
The play came two minutes into the second half, from the Giants' 21-yard line.
"When I came out of my break to catch the ball,'' Smith told me from the Panthers' locker room, "I knew I didn't have long to go up and make the catch before I was going to get hit. I felt him [Johnson] coming. But that happens all the time. You catch the ball, you take the hit, you hang on. And so the ball came and I caught it, and he slammed into me. I felt it [break] right away. The bones were moving, shifting in there.''
"How'd you hold onto the ball?'' I asked.
"There was no chance I'd drop it,'' he said. "I'd die before I'd drop that ball. Then I fell into the end zone, and when I got up, I knew it was broken.''
He went to lift the left arm to help him cradle the ball, but the left arm wasn't working; he couldn't use it for support. So he went to the sidelines -- without grimacing -- and said to the trainer who came to meet him, "It's broken, man.''
"I didn't want anybody to touch it,'' he said.
He said he recalled in college colliding with BYU linebacker Rob Morris and breaking a neck vertebrae. He said it's part of the game.
"He gave me his best shot,'' Smith said, "and I must be a pretty good player. Because I broke my arm and still scored the touchdown.''
When Smith was getting the arm X-rayed, the doctor told him he'd have to have it set in surgery this morning. Smith wanted the doctor to cast it so he could play Sunday in the season finale against New Orleans -- a game that means nothing because Carolina's been eliminated from the playoffs. GM Marty Hurney told him that would be impossible, obviously. Bones set in three months, not five days.
"You in pain right now?'' I asked.
"Sort of,'' he said. "It's more of a minor nuisance.''
Football players are different than the rest of us.
Full MMQB article
Steve Smith says his broken forearm is "a minor nuisance.'' Right away in the NBC viewing room at Rockefeller Center Sunday, when Smith got slammed by Giants safety Michael Johnson as he gathered in a pass from Matt Moore near the goal line, Rodney Harrison said, "His arm's broken.'' Harrison knows about broken arms. He broke his in the Patriots' third Super Bowl game this decade, against Carolina, and stayed on the field for the rest of the series though he knew it was broken.
"Toughest wide receiver in football,'' Harrison said of Smith.
Toughest player, I'd say.
The play came two minutes into the second half, from the Giants' 21-yard line.
"When I came out of my break to catch the ball,'' Smith told me from the Panthers' locker room, "I knew I didn't have long to go up and make the catch before I was going to get hit. I felt him [Johnson] coming. But that happens all the time. You catch the ball, you take the hit, you hang on. And so the ball came and I caught it, and he slammed into me. I felt it [break] right away. The bones were moving, shifting in there.''
"How'd you hold onto the ball?'' I asked.
"There was no chance I'd drop it,'' he said. "I'd die before I'd drop that ball. Then I fell into the end zone, and when I got up, I knew it was broken.''
He went to lift the left arm to help him cradle the ball, but the left arm wasn't working; he couldn't use it for support. So he went to the sidelines -- without grimacing -- and said to the trainer who came to meet him, "It's broken, man.''
"I didn't want anybody to touch it,'' he said.
He said he recalled in college colliding with BYU linebacker Rob Morris and breaking a neck vertebrae. He said it's part of the game.
"He gave me his best shot,'' Smith said, "and I must be a pretty good player. Because I broke my arm and still scored the touchdown.''
When Smith was getting the arm X-rayed, the doctor told him he'd have to have it set in surgery this morning. Smith wanted the doctor to cast it so he could play Sunday in the season finale against New Orleans -- a game that means nothing because Carolina's been eliminated from the playoffs. GM Marty Hurney told him that would be impossible, obviously. Bones set in three months, not five days.
"You in pain right now?'' I asked.
"Sort of,'' he said. "It's more of a minor nuisance.''
Football players are different than the rest of us.
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