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When the Philadelphia Eagles pulled out the Super Bowl win versus the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans, no one was more excited about the victory than second-year edge rusher Nolan Smith.
One of the true bright spots of the 2024 season, the outside linebacker transformed himself from a deep reserve as a rookie into a stalwart, with the Georgia product playing 54 percent of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps in the “Big Game.”
And yet, according to Ian Rapoport, at least some of Smith’s 30 defensive snaps came with a pretty significant injury, as the 24-year-old reportedly played through a torn triceps down the stretch and just had surgery to correct the issue.
Whoa, interesting stuff, right? I certainly don’t remember Smith looking diminished in the second half, including on some pretty critical drives right after halftime that effectively iced out the game once and for all. Who knows, maybe adrenaline kicked in, maybe Smith got treatment at halftime that helped to deal with the pain, or maybe he just took a page from Brandon Graham’s book, who tore his triceps against the Los Angeles Rams during the regular season and finished out the game anyway.
Regardless of how Smith played through his injury, the fact that he did is impressive all the same, as the pride of Georgia was able to battle through the pain and still finish out the game with two QB hits and an alcohol-enhanced Super Bowl Parade appearance that endeared him even further with Philly’s blue-collar fanbase.
Fortunately for Smith, this surgery shouldn’t impact his readiness for the 2025 NFL season, as Graham was able to get back from a similar injury after roughly three months.
Still, the fact that Smith was willing to put his health on the line to keep pushing for a Super Bowl victory will certainly ingratiate him heading into his third NFL season, where he will need to step up and become a vet to younger players following the likely exits of BG and Josh Sweat. Now a Super Bowl Champion, Smith has the resume, the production, and the legacy to back it up, so sliding into that veteran leadership role should be a slam dunk for the 24-year-old rising star.
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