Broncos Warrior Played With Torn ACL and Didn’t Even Know It — Alex Singleton’s Comeback Story Will Leave You Speechless

Recovering from a major injury takes guts and a high pain threshold — two essential traits to make a living in the NFL. Thankfully, Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton has both attributes in abundance. 

Singleton played the bulk of the Broncos' Week 3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season with a torn ACL. Feeling a pop and some discomfort didn't prevent Singleton from playing the remaining three quarters of a key early-season game, and it did much to impress Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix. 

"That one's tough," Nix declared after defeating the Bucs. "If I had to explain Alex in one thing, what type of guy he is, it would be that... He's the type of guy that would tear his ACL on the sixth play of the game and go out there and finish the game." 

Avoiding injuries doesn't really happen in the NFL, but the shock of finding out he'd blown out his knee was a lot for Singleton to compute some seven months ago. 

"In talking to people about the rehab process, a lot of people say when you first cut, it's scary because you remember laying on the field and hurting," Singleton told Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post. "Well, I never had that experience. My experience was going to the training room and saying, 'Hey I need a sleeve so I can go drink at the bar with the guys.' I found out later in the night that my knee was hurt, so I haven't experienced any of that finality and the pain and all that stuff." 

Between Week 3 and 4 last season, Broncos head coach Sean Payton opted to keep the team out east and train in West Virginia — with back-to-back games vs. the Bucs and New York Jets — so Singleton hobbled around on crutches and stayed close to his teammates until he got that crucial appointment with the surgeon. 

"It took forever," Singleton said via Gabriel. "Until after I had surgery and was sitting at home and watching the Saints game and the Chiefs game and was like, 'I'm not there.' I was at The Greenbrier with the guys and still got to be around the guys for so long (after the injury), so it was weird."

Singleton might never have faced such a major injury blow, but he had faced adversity before. He forged his career from the relatively humble beginnings of playing college football at Montana State and early pro ball in the Canadian Football League. 

Cutting his teeth by excelling on special teams with the Philadelphia Eagles led to Singleton catching on as a starter in Philadelphia, before becoming a team leader with the Broncos. Denver's voluntary minicamp commences on May 27th, and while Singleton is optimistic he'll be good to go, he's leaving the analysis of how he looks to the critics. 

"I can't give specific numbers, but we have practices in a few weeks and you guys can see for yourselves where I'm at," Singleton said recently at his charity event. 

Previously in Denver, Singleton had formed a productive partnership inside with Josey Jewell before he took his talents to the Carolina Panthers as a free agent last year. Now that free-agent addition Dre Greenlaw will be lining up alongside Singleton, hopes are high that the Broncos' inside linebackers can become one of the league's best duos. 

One of Singleton's core strengths during his recovery has been not getting too far ahead of himself. Taking incremental steps means he's looking forward to the more mundane aspects of playing football once again. 

"I think I'm getting my helmet fitted next week," Singleton said. "I think that'll be a little happy moment. Then, the first OTAs. All these happy moments. And then training camp, it'll be like, 'Oh, we're back.' I think it'll be really cool to get to do those things and get to do that."