NFL: Despite serious injury in the Super Bowl – the fairy tale of Rams safety Eric Weddle

Almost two years pass since his retirement before Eric Weddle returns to the Los Angeles Rams for a few weeks and wins the Super Bowl. In the NFL finals, the safety ends up biting his way through even with a serious injury.

Munich – During the Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams, one moment in particular caused horror among fans. Los Angeles Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr. went down without opponent intervention and tore his cruciate ligament.

OBJ was not alone in the horror of the injury in the NFL final. Teammate Eric Weddle also suffered a serious injury in the most important game of his career without anyone noticing. The safety tore his pectoral muscle in the first quarter – usually an extremely painful injury that requires surgery and means immediate retirement from the season. But Weddle did not let that happen.

On Twitter, his advisor David Canter now spoke out and described what his client had accomplished in the world’s biggest sporting event. “He played more than three quarters with a pectoral muscle torn in two places, he called plays on defense and led the team in tackles in the playoffs despite not playing football for more than 750 days. “

Weddle seriously injured in Super Bowl

However, the advisor did not make this statement – coupled with a photo of the injury – entirely without need. The safety had to listen to countless accusations in recent days that he was a so-called “ring chaser”. In other words, he had only joined the Rams’ star team in order to win a Super Bowl ring with little effort. But Canter vehemently disagrees.

By early February 2020, Weddle had officially ended his career in the NFL. Two years later, however, injuries to Taylor Rapp and Jordan Fuller created such a big hole in the Los Angeles Rams’ defence that the team felt compelled to bring the football retiree out of retirement at his request. And so, on January 12, with a call from the franchise, the six-time Pro Bowler’s life changed.

“I love challenges,” Weddle told “The Jim Rowe Show” after the Super Bowl win. “I love proving people wrong … And everybody thought we were crazy. Who would think to do something like that?”

He continued, “Honestly, I know deep down that I’m one of the mentally toughest guys in this world, and when I was on the phone with Chanel (his wife, ed.) after Raheem Morris (Rams defensive coordinator, ed.) called me, she said, ‘Honey, if anybody can do this, you can,’ and when I heard that, it really gave me confidence. “

Short-term commitment to Rams planned

While the commitment between Weddle and the Rams was originally only made for the wild-card round game against the Arizona Cardinals. The veteran was supposed to play ten to 15 snaps. Then everything turned out differently.

“I’ve worked harder in the last five weeks than I ever have in my career because I needed to make up for lost time and I wanted to make the most of this opportunity. The mind is stronger than matter, the mind is powerful if you decide, commit and put your whole heart into it,” Weddle explained.

It was this attitude that kept him going all the way to the Super Bowl despite his serious injury. “I’m not going to give up on this game,” the 37-year-old told himself in pain, as he later recounted.

Weddle ends career again

“I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life, I’m not going to stop. I could still run, I could still make checks, and I just didn’t want to be on the field. I blocked out the pain and figured I’ll take care of the damage when the game is over, and it was worth it. The surgery is scheduled for Friday and I’m a Super Bowl champion now, so it doesn’t matter.”

As such, Weddle also ended his career for the second and presumably final time immediately after the final game. An unexpected title fairy tale he probably wouldn’t have even dared dream of at the beginning of the year.

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2 years ago
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Super Bowl
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