CLYDE TALKS OVERCOMING HIS ROOKIE INJURY
- Lonn Phillips Sullivan
- Mar 12, 2021
- 3 min read
transcribed & analyzed by LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
@LonnPhillips
interview by T-Bob Hebert & Jacob Hester on 104.5 ESPN's OFF THE BENCH
T-BOB: Well... and and and it's crazy Clyde, so like you said 'you're finally getting a little time off, you had a year and a half of football' and within that year and a half, you caught what looked to be a horrific injury, like...I don't understand... honestly bro, I don't understand how...I don't understand how it happened, 'cause when I saw it I said 'oh he's done for the year' there's just nothing to be done...uhm...what was it like, not just kinda going through that your rookie season but then fighting back and making it back for that run at the end of the season?
CLYDE: Just like you said, as soon as it happened I was like 'man, this is it this is the end of my rookie season: came back home and got hurt ya know... right here...so...uh...that was my initial thought. And then, we went and did the X-rays to make sure if anything was broken, I mean it felt like everything was broken.
But once we saw, ya know... there may have been some fractures and... not complete breaks, I felt like I can get through this. But you can tell, everyone around was just kinda like 'i don't know how he's about to push through this and get through this 'cause it was the left ankle and the right hip. And that didn't really come out as far as...that much...but even ya know on crutches I couldn't move because if I put weight on my left leg then that left ankle was messed up...And then if I tried to go on the right, the right hip was shifting and doing all this crazy stuff. So it was a whirlwind of getting rides to the facility at 4 in the morning, 5 o'clock in the morning and ya know having to get a ride back home at 6:30-7, so rehab from the point that I wake up to the point I was going home. So...it was a long couple months of that.
----------- NOW IT'S US
How Clyde made it back is unreal!!!! And his performance during Kansas City's Super Bowl loss last month makes his comeback even more impressive.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire was on fire in that game and had the Chiefs remained patient with their Tiger, he would've delivered even more for Kansas City...although, by the way it sounds here with both sides of Clyde's body ginger from ruthless, nearly career-threatening injuries, perhaps Andy Reid was playing the LSU Legend only as much as his pain threshold would allow.
His 11 touches for 87 yards throughout Super Bowl LV (64 rushing, 23 receiving) followed up his touchdown-scoring return from injury vs Buffalo in the AFC title game. The moment also marked his NFL playoff debut and even though he could barely move at the time while running against a brutal defense (led by LSU Tigers Legend and perennial NFL Pro Bowler Tre'Davious White), he punched a crucial score across the line for a touchdown.
Clyde can become legendary...this rookie year was only the surface of his frenzied genius, spinning loops around defenders or burying them into the ground with a punishing hit....
I remember the man sending four different UGA defenders to the sidelines writhing in agony after trying to tackle the smaller Edwards-Helaire....this was the supposed #1 defense and he made them look like they were playing Scrabble, just as he did to Nick Saban in 4 TD fashion, or Brent Venables with his clutch, underrated and under-appreciated setup man play vs Clemson...watch the game over again and just focus on Clyde...look at what he does...his incendiary blast of a Clemson defender, trucking over the unnamed linebacker and sending them into the atmosphere of his stride, ignites the entire team and propels the comeback after a really lifeless opening few drives: the next play? A long, swaggering Ja'Marr Chase bomb for the first touchdown of the game.
Clyde can change games in so many ways...and I cannot stand injury taking this young man from the field of play...he can be this era's Marshall Faulk, Barry Sanders even...he can be the last great running back...if the supposed demise of the position is to be believed.
I'm forever grateful to Tonge'!
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