Chiefs teammate helped Nick Allegretti feel confident to play through injury in Super Bowl

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Wes Roesch | Last updated 2/18/24

Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Nick Allegretti managed to play through a UCL tear during Super Bowl LVIII, playing the left guard position in place of an injured Joe Thuney.

Allegretti played all 79 snaps during the Chiefs' championship win over the San Francisco 49ers despite tearing the ligament in the second quarter. In an interview with Jim Rome on The Jim Rome Show, Allegretti noted that he realized during halftime that he could play through the tear.

"It was one of those things that I could confidently use the arm knowing that, most likely, the UCL was already gone," Allegretti said. "So I wasn't going to tear it any worse. So if I could deal with the pain, I could play."

It turns out that, to play through the pain, Allegretti got a little advice from a fellow offensive lineman.

"One of our backup offensive linemen, he has a master's in biology and he wanted to go be a doctor when he was done (playing football)," Allegretti said. "He told me, he goes, 'Listen, you don't need a UCL to play offensive line.' I was like, alright, I don't know what that means, but I don't need it, I'm good."

Chiefs guard @Gretti_53 on battling through a torn UCL to play every snap in the Super Bowl. pic.twitter.com/p21nbSLrgA
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) February 16, 2024

Though Allegretti doesn't name-drop the offensive lineman who gave him advice, the player was likely backup OL Mike Caliendo, who has a master's in biology from Western Michigan. That advice seems to track well considering the UCL is involved in providing stability for throwing and overhead movements, neither of which an offensive lineman really does during a game.

Although, despite Allegretti not throwing the ball, a UCL tear still involves a lot of pain in the elbow. This can be amplified by pushing and pulling, especially going up against 300-pound defensive linemen. So, needless to say, Allegretti is one tough individual.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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