Former Panther Steve Smith tears ACL, out for the Season

Former Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith got bit by the injury bug today against the San Diego Chargers.

The current Baltimore Raven tore his ACL on a catch from Joe Flacco in the middle of the game according to reports from Will Brinson of CBS Sports.

The ACL tear will end Smith’s season. The year had not gone well for the Ravens as a team, but Smith had been putting up Pro Bowl numbers up to the time when he got hurt. Smith finishes the year with 588 yards and three scores. The Ravens are (2-6) at the moment.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh noted that this was not the way for a player to go out with the team struggling and all. He suggested that he believed Smith would be back. Smith is in the second year of a three year deal with the Ravens. He had earlier said that this would be his last season.

What Smith does next is unclear. He is gone for at least a year with the ACL. This would be a normal time for a 36-37 year old football player to get out of the League. Yet Smith has never been ordinary.

Already he has outlasted the career of his former junior college teammate Chad Johnson. He was still the number one threat on the Ravens offense. If anyone could come back from this, it would be Smith.

But why do it? Smith has all the accomplishments that any player deserves except the Super Bowl. Next year is impossible to see, but it is hard to say that the Ravens will be a title contender next year. He would have to demand a trade to go somewhere else and I don’t think that is his style.

Next: Carolina Panthers: Facing Injured Andrew Luck?

So I think Smith should retire and if he was to go out now, nobody would ever have to pity him if his comeback were to stop short. We can remember him at the top of his game.