October 11, 2020: The Improbable Return of Alex Smith

October 11, 2020: The team then awkwardly known as "The Washington Football Team" loses to the Los Angeles Rams, 30-10 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

Aside from the fact that it was played without paying customers, as America was under COVID restrictions, this game would not seem to be especially noteworthy. But it marked the return to play of Washington quarterback Alex Smith, who hadn't played in 2 years, due to an injury that almost killed him. It's been called the greatest comeback story in NFL history.

Alexander Douglas Smith was born on May 7, 1984, outside Seattle in Bremerton, Washington, and grows up outside San Diego in La Mesa, California. A star quarterback at the University of Utah, he was the top pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, by the San Francisco 49ers. But in his 8th season with them, he was replaced as starting quarterback by Colin Kaepernick, and they made the Super Bowl.

He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, and in 5 seasons with them, he made 3 Pro Bowls -- and then was dumped for Patrick Mahomes, who has now led them to 3 Super Bowls, winning 2 of them. (UPDATE: As of Super Bowl LIX, make that 5 Super Bowls, winning 3.)

He was traded to the team now known as the Washington Commanders. On November 18, 2018, he was sacked by Kareem Jackson and J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans, and suffered a spiral and compound fracture to the tibia and the fibula in his right leg. It was similar to the broken leg suffered by Joe Theismann in 1985, to the point where the final score was the same, 23-21 -- except, this time, Washington lost. Theismann witnessed Smith's injury, as a broadcaster.

A broken leg is horribly painful, or so I'm told. But it usually doesn't put the patient's life in jeopardy. But following his initial surgery, Smith developed life-threatening necrotizing fasciitis, which resulted in sepsis, which required him to undergo 17 surgeries, including 8 debridements (removal of dead tissue), across 4 separate hospital stays over a period of 9 months.

Doctors had suggested that an amputation above the knee might have been Smith's only option, before performing skin grafts and an operation transferring muscle from his left quadriceps (thigh muscle) to save it.

Knowing that his leg had been saved, Smith knew he would miss the entire 2019 season, but he was determined to play in 2020. The COVID pandemic might have prevented that season from even being played, but it was played.

On October 11, the Washington Football Team played a home game against the Los Angeles Rams, and in the 2nd quarter, quarterback Kyle Allen left the game with an arm injury. Head coach Ron Rivera put Smith in. The Rams won, 30-10, and the WFT had only 108 total yards of offense, the fewest by any team in any game all season. Smith completed 9 out of 17 passes, no touchdowns, but no interceptions, either. He was, however, sacked 6 times, but finished the game without aggravating his old injury or sustaining a new one.

He didn't play in the next 2 games, but on November 8, he was brought in again, and the WFT lost to the Giants, 23-20. He started the next 5 games, winning 4 of them. Overall, he went 5-1 as a starter, got his team to a 7-9 record, and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Still, the WFT waived him the following March, and he retired, just short of his 37th birthday, perhaps having proven all he needed to. He was soon hired by ESPN as an NFL analyst. He has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. He will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026, but is unlikely to make it. 

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October 11, 2020 was a Sunday. This was also the day that the Los Angeles Lakers won the COVID-belated NBA Finals, to win their 17th NBA Championship, their 12th since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. They beat the Miami Heat, 106-93 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, at the neutral site -- the "bubble," where the entire NBA Playoffs were held, in front of no paying fans -- of the AdventHealth Arena in the Orlando suburb of Bay Lake, Florida. I have a separate entry for that event.

The NHL had also decided its title later than usual, on September 28, with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the Stanley Cup, beating the Dallas Stars in 6 games.

Baseball's postseason was also in progress, and "in a bubble." Or, rather, 2 bubbles: Petco Park in San Diego, a National League ballpark, for the American League Playoffs; and Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas, an AL ballpark, for the NL Playoffs.

There was 1 game on this day, Game 1 of the AL Championship Series, at Petco. The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros, 2-1. Blake Snell outpitched Framber Valdez. Randy Arozarena hit a home run. The Rays went on to win the series in 7 games, but lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And, in addition to the Washington-Los Angeles game, these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 37-34 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The New York Jets lost to the Arizona Cardinals, 30-10 at State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-3 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-16 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

* The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-14 at NRG Stadium (as Reliant Stadium was then known) in Houston.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-29 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Indianapolis Colts, 32-23 at FirstEnergy Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.

* The Las Vegas Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-32 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the San Francisco 49ers, 43-17 at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, California.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-26 at Lumen Field in Seattle.

* The preceding Thursday, the Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-19 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 30-27 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* Pushed back to Tuesday night due to COVID reasons, the Tennessee Titans beat the Buffalo Bills, 42-16 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

* And the Denver Broncos, the Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots had a bye week.

June 1, 1979: The Sonics Were Super

June 1, 1979: The Seattle SuperSonics defeat the Washington Bullets, 97-93 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland, in Game 5, to take the NBA Finals 4 games to 1, and win their 1st NBA Championship. This avenged their defeat to the Bullets in the previous season's Finals.

Dennis Johnson is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and Gus Williams probably should be. But the Sonics are the only NBA Champions between 1951 and 2022 not to have a single player in the NBA's 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players. But their head coach was one of those 75, as he had been for the 50 selected for the 50th Anniversary: Lenny Wilkens. His 1,332 wins as an NBA head coach once were the most in history, but he has since been surpassed by Gregg Popovich and Don Nelson.

Neither of these teams uses its 1979 name anymore. The Sonics reached the Finals again in 1996, but were moved in 2008, becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. An agreement is in place where, if Seattle gets a new team, the Thunder will forfeit all legal rights associated with the Sonics. The 1979 Sonics title was Seattle's only World Championship, in any sport, between 1917 and 2014.

The Sonics were the only team after the 1951 Rochester Royals to win the NBA title and not have any players named to the league's 50th Anniversary Team, although Wilkens was named as one of the Top 10 Coaches. This would hold true for the 75th Anniversary Team.

The Bullets, wanting to get away from D.C.'s crime-ridden image, changed their name to the Washington Wizards in 1997, the same year they moved into the District, to the building now known as the Capital One Arena. They have not made the Finals since.

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June 1, 1979 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Ron Guidry, still looking like the pitcher he was the season before, allowed only 2 hits, singles to Chet Lemon and Alan Bannister. He struck out 10. Lou Piniella hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Frank Taveras singled Doug Flynn home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Joel Youngblood hit a home run.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 9-8 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Dave Parker hit a home run. Willie Stargell went 1-for-5. Phil Garner went 4-for-5. For the Padres, Dave Winfield hit 2 home runs.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Steve Carlton was betrayed by an 8th-inning error by 2nd baseman Ramón Avilés that allowed 2 runs to score. Johnny Bench went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Against his once-and-former team, Pete Rose went 0-for-4. So did Mike Schmidt. Del Unser and Garry Maddox hit home runs.

An inability to find a 2nd baseman who could hit (unlike Avilés and Ted Sizemore), field (unlike Avilés) and stay healthy (unlike Dave Cash) was a big reason why the Phillies reached 3 straight National League Championship Series, but lost them all. Later in the year, the Phillies acquired Manny Trillo. He became a big reason why they won the 1980 World Series.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The Dodgers scored a run in the 8th and a run in the 9th to tie it, and took a 7-6 lead in the top of the 11th. But in the bottom of the 11th, the Cards got singles by Keith Hernandez, Ted Simmons and Tony Scott to tie the game. After a strikeout, and an intentional walk to Ken Reitz, Dane Iorg singled Simmons home with the winning run.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Milwaukee. Robin Yount hit a home run. Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with a walk. George Brett went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4.

* The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the California Angels, 7-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 2-for-5 with a stolen base and an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Seattle Mariners, under circumstances considerably less important than their basketball neighbors, matched the SuperSonics with a win, beating the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.