Every Georgia football fan by now knows how many former Bulldogs played in the Super Bowl this season. There were eight former players on the two rosters combined, and the Philadelphia Eagles had a whopping six Bulldogs on their team.
Georgia's players played alright in the Super Bowl, but all that matters is winning the biggest game the game of football has to offer, and that's exactly what they did. But NFL insider Ian Rapoport shared that one of Georgia's former players actually played in the Super Bowl with a significant injury.
#Eagles pass-rusher Nolan Smith tore his triceps in the Super Bowl LIX win over the #Chiefs — and played through it in the second half, per me and @MikeGarafolo.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 21, 2025
Smith, who performed in the second half on one arm, had surgery on Wednesday and will be ready for the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/Atmq0pcXkV
Nolan Smith played in the Super Bowl injured
According to Rapoport, Philly linebacker Nolan Smith played the entire second half with a torn tricep during the Super Bowl.
Is it possible for anyone to do anything tougher than that? A torn tricep is no joke. That injury essentially means that Smith played the second half with one arm, which obviously is not an easy thing to do in the NFL.
Should anyone even be that surprised that Smith did this though? Sure it was the Super Bowl and players will play through almost any injury in that game, gut UGA fans know how tough of a player Smith is. So seeing him play through an injury like this really isn't all that surprising.
Smith just finished his second season with Philly with 42 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. All of these stats are much better than what he recorded during his rookie season, so Smith is really figuring out what type of player he is and how to succeed in this league.
Smith has a very long career in front of him in the NFL. He already has one Super Bowl ring under his belt, and it would not be surprising at all to see him add a few more to his collection before his career is done.