The Kansas City Chiefs’ historic Super Bowl triumph over the San Francisco 49ers featured a number of unheralded heroes. It was only natural that players like Travis Kelces and Patrick Mahomes would make headlines, and rightfully so.
It is undeniable, though, that Kansa City’s superstars could not have accomplished this on their own. Backup offensive linesman Nick Allegretti, who reportedly played despite a torn UCL in his elbow for the most of the game, is one man who is still regarded as a relatively unsung hero.
The season’s biggest game wasn’t even planned to include Allegretti. Nevertheless, Allegretti was thrown into the fire by an injury to Joe Thuney, which also happened during the Chiefs’ AFC Championship victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
But the fact that Allegretti had to play with a severe elbow injury made his Super Bowl performance even more remarkable:
“Until then, I haven’t experienced an injury like that,” Allegretti stated on The Jim Rome Show on Friday (via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com). “I realized right away. You felt it, you heard a snap, and even with your little anatomical knowledge, you could see that something wasn’t right with my elbow. as it is not how my elbow is meant to bend. Luckily, there was a two-minute notice, so I had a few seconds to collect myself, realize that my arm was still twisted, and leave. Despite the difficult circumstances, I was lucky enough to be able to continue playing.
And it was all worthwhile for the Chiefs and Allegretti.
After the injury happened and after the team’s medical personnel had responded to it at halftime, Allegretti talked about the pain he was experiencing. There’s no denying that this guy is extremely resilient.
“After processing it, I was probably in the six or seven [range] when it happened,” Allegretti said to Rome. “And then, at the half, we managed to apply the cream, give it a little massage, and then cover it with a brace.” I think I was playing at a five or such. I was able to use my arm confidently since I knew that the UCL was probably already gone and I wouldn’t injure it more.
I could play if I could manage the agony. It was therefore one of those instances.
Allegretti claims that while he struggled with the agony, one of his colleagues gave him some wise counsel. It was the kind of direct statement that the time required:
After completing his master’s degree in biology, Allegretti stated, “one of our backup offensive lineman wanted to go be a doctor.” “Listen, you don’t need a UCL to play offensive line,” he said to me. I was thinking, “Okay, I’m good, I don’t need that, I don’t know what that means.” So I could leave.
