Nick Chubb is perhaps the most well-liked player in the NFL right now, and his horrible injury against the Steelers on Monday Night Football will not be the end for him.
We all watched in horror. A nation of football fans, both college and NFL, gasped when they saw Nick Chubb sitting on the turf at Acrisure Stadium, unable to get up under his own power.
He was grasping his left knee — the same knee that was obliterated at Neyland Stadium in 2015 — and grimacing. His teammates tried to help him up, but he simply shook his head no.
It was gutwrenching.
It was clear from the moment the trainers and coaches were called to his side that this was bad. Play-by-play announcer Joe Buck told the television audience that ABC would not be showing the replay. It was too grisly.
He’s already been ruled out for the rest of the season. And while that’s a significant blow to the Cleveland Browns, it’s an even bigger blow for football altogether.
Search Nick Chubb’s name on social media, and it’s clear that this is not just any ordinary player. Fans, the media, players, and coaches from all over the league and other sports all say the same thing about Chubb.
https://twitter.com/NFLPA/status/1703944633435259307?s=20
In so many words, the sentiment is, “Nick Chubb is the kind of person you want your son to grow up to be.”
Georgia fans have known this for a long time. Nick Chubb was and still is the epitome of class, hard work, dedication, loyalty, and character. When you think of Georgia running backs there’s Herschel, and then there’s Chubb.
Can Nick Chubb come back from another horrible injury?
So what now? What could the future hold for a 27-year-old NFL running back who’s now had two gruesome and catastrophic knee injuries? In terms of the NFL, the chances are slim. Running backs have a very short shelf life now.
But this is Nick Chubb we’re talking about. Bookmark this page and save the receipt if you want to, but I’m putting it into the universe right now.
Nick Chubb will return.
He will put on an NFL uniform again, and he’ll run with all his heart again. He’ll make an NFL team glad he’s part of their organization. Hell, he may even win Comeback Player of the Year. That’s just who Nick Chubb is.
But even if it’s only ceremonial, and he puts on a uniform to take the ball into his gut a couple of times as a symbolic gesture of one of the NFL’s truly great men, he’ll go out the same way he came in. Doing what he does best and proving the doubters wrong.
He’s got the skills, smarts, and temperament to be an outstanding coach one day. He’s got the personality to be a game-changing recruiter for a college program. Regardless of the outcome of this injury, Nick Chubb can write his own ending in any way he likes.
To not see Chubb running the ball on Sundays this year will be disappointing, to say the least. But to see what he does after this season will be even more exciting.
Prayers up for Nick Chubb, Bulldog Nation. We all know he’ll be back.