Joe Theismann knows a thing or two about the injury Alex Smith is attempting to return from.

Suffering the exact same injury, a fractured tibia and fibula, as Smith, Theismann understands how hard it is to even attempt to play football again. For Theismann, the injury ended his career abruptly. Smith is trying to avoid having the same fate, and Theismann is right there with him.

“Heck yeah!” Theismann told ESPN in a telephone interview, reacting to the news of Smith being cleared. “Go, Alex, go.”

Suprisingly considering their respective endings, Theismann's road to recovery off the field was actually simpler than Smith's. While Theismann only required one surgery to repair the broken leg, while Smith needed 17. He also suffered an infection that almost required his leg to be amputated.

“He has gone through a lot more than I had to go through,” Theismann said, via ESPN. “For me it was a question of the leg healing and then trying to do certain things required of the quarterback position. Alex came within 24 hours of losing his leg. I didn't wind up with complications; he wound up with a tremendous amount of complications. It wasn't just healing from a broken leg. The mountain he had to climb is so much greater. No matter what happens he's already won the award for comeback player of the year.”

Theismann notes the difference in medical technology and in player lifespans as the reason why he gives Smith a better chance of making it back into the league than he had following his injury.

“You might say medical advancements but … it was a different era of football,” he said. “If you were 35 in 1985 they couldn't get you out the door quick enough. Now if you're 35 and you can play the game decently, you've got a three- to four-year career ahead of you. I was able to do [anything] two years after, but I was 37.”

Time will only tell if Smith is able to complete this miracle story and start in another NFL game.