Over three seasons as a Detroit Lion, linebacker Alex Anzalone has started 47 games and played over 2,900 defensive snaps (over 1,000 in each of the last two seasons). He missed one game last season due a hand injury, and it was later revealed he played with three fractured ribs during the playoffs as he also dealt with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder.
At the time, head coach Dan Campbell, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, lauded Anzalone's toughness as one symbol of what the team is about.
"Look, Alex is tough," Campbell said last week. "He’s been through this. And it does, it means a lot. I mean, that’s – that’s really what we’re built off here. And ultimately, it comes down to what the player believes they can do. If they believe they can still produce not being 100 percent, then that’s the difference and we have a ton of guys that are that way.”
Alex Anzalone has relatable explanation for 'blemish' visible in photo
The Lions Twitter account has been posting pictures of players in uniform lately. Here's the one they posted of Anzalone on Wednesday.
Anzalone is clearly sporting some kind of a mark under his left eye, though it looks to not be too serious.
Anzalone's wife gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Carter, just before the holidays last year. They also have a young son Carter, who Anzalone also talked about in an piece for The Players Tribune early this offseason.
As for that noticeable mark under his eye, Anzalone quickly offered an explanation any parent with a young child can relate to.
"Don't mind my scratched/swollen left eye," Anzalone said. "My daughter did that right before I left."
So a linebacker who played with multiple fractured ribs and a sprained AC joint late last season as the Lions made a run to the NFC Championship Game was "taken down" by his less than sixth-month old daughter on picture day. For those of you with very young kids, this feels like your moment to totally relate to the "injury" plight of a football player.
