Washington Ex Remembers Lone NFL Game: 'Cut Short So Soon'

Former Washington Commanders special teamer Jordan Bernstine recalled what turned out to be his only NFL game during an interesting new article.
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The odds of making an NFL roster are so minuscule, children are often discouraged from following their dreams and told to pick a more realistic life goal. But imagine overcoming those odds, getting a taste at life in the NFL and then having it ripped away from you permanently. 

ESPN's Brooke Pryor recently spoke with seven players who, for a variety of reasons, only appeared in one game in their NFL careers. Among those was safety Jordan Bernstine, who took 12 special teams snaps for the Washington Commanders franchise in Week 1 of the 2012 season.

During a special teams snap in the fourth quarter, Bernstine suffered a catastrophic injury to his right knee, tearing the ACL, MCL, PCL and patellar tendon. In Week 1 of his rookie season, Bernstine had sustained an injury that was so serious that even with modern medical advances, doctors suggested to him that he would probably never get back to his previous 100%. 

"I went from being one of the fastest players on the [team] to being told on Monday that I probably would not walk, jog, or do any of these things without a limp," he said. "My response was, 'Well, what's the recovery time?'"

As mentioned above, you wouldn't make it to the NFL if you listened to everyone explaining the minuscule odds to you on your way up. But having similar blinders on when being given medical opinions doesn't work. 

"It's hilarious when I say this out loud and think about it in retrospect," Bernstine said. "I was just so focused -- the blinders of the NFL and it getting cut short so soon. I'd always come back from these injuries and come back faster and stronger."

It's an interesting debate, would you rather get a brief taste of being in the NFL and have it taken away from you or just have fallen short? It's one thing to just not be good enough, it's another to be good enough until a bad injury forever limits you physically.

Still only 34, the former Iowa Hawkeyes star went on to open up Ground Up Sports Performance in Colorado Springs, Colorado. By all accounts, Bernstine has done very well to adjust to the hand he was dealt. But there always has to be a part of him that wonders what could have been. 


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Tim Kelly
TIM KELLY

Tim Kelly is a contributor to SI's team sites. Additionally, Kelly covers the Philadelphia Phillies as the Editorial Director for PhilliesNation.com. Previously, Kelly has been a producer at SportsRadio 94 WIP and a content producer for Audacy Sports, with written content syndicated to WIP, WFAN, WEEI and some of the biggest sports radio stations in the country. Kelly also has previously written for SportsTalkPhilly.com and Section 215, FanSided's Philadelphia affiliate. Kelly is a 2018 graduate of Bloomsburg University, with a major in Mass Communications and a minor in political science.