Nick Chubb's high school honors him with pregame banner after injury
Nick Chubb may be in Cleveland, but know that his old school still has his back. And no doubt, he saw the banner the football players at Cedartown High ran through before their game, Friday night.
It said “Chubb Strong.” And the word Chubb is scripted to look like the wings of a bat. Because Nick Chubb always will be Batman, even if he’s laid up with a bad knee.
Take a look at the photo. It shows all the love the old hometown still feels for the Browns running back and former Georgia Bulldog star.
Nick Chubb hurt his knee after he was hit high, low by 2 Steelers
Chubb is going through some down times this week. His season came to an abrupt halt on his 10th carry of the Browns game against the Steelers. The Monday Night Football audience was watching as two Steelers, including DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, thwarted Chubb. His knee bent at an unnatural angle. The play was so unsettling that ESPN didn’t run a replay.
There was some chatter that Fitzpatrick’s hit might have been dirty. But Browns defensive end Myles Garrett put that talk to rest.
“Minkah didn’t do anything illegal,” Garrett said. “He was playing the game how it’s supposed to be played. It was very unfortunate what happened. Nick getting held up but just having, just planting his foot and the hit and all that. That’s not unlike what corners around the league do. This is something that’s very common.”
Chubb’s knee injury isn’t as severe as first feared
But there was better news for Nick Chubb on Saturday. ESPN reported that his injury isn’t as severe as first feared. It does involve a tear of his MCL, which stablilizes the knee joint from the inside. But there was no tear to the ACL. The rehab time for such an injury is six to eight months. His season is done, but his career is not. This is Chubb’s second major injury to the knee. And there was some speculation as to whether he could come back from it. That’s when the initial reports suggested he may need two surgeries to repair all the damage. Chubb hurt the same knee in 2015 when he was nearing some of Herschel Walker’s team rushing records at Georgia.
Cedartown High School is cheering on their favorite ex football player. And so are his friends at Georgia. Bullldogs coach Kirby Smart said earlier this week that he reached out to his former tailback.
Smart said: “I know he’s probably been flooded with all kinds of people reaching out to him. (I have) a lot of respect for him and what he did for this program in terms of toughness, buy-in, (and) giving back. He decided to come back when he did… he certainly did UGA a favor returning. What an outstanding year he had when he did.”