Photo courtesy: Portland State University Athletics.
Montreal Alouettes’ franchise quarterback Davis Alexander played through a torn ulnar collateral ligament and fractured elbow in his right throwing arm for the final six games during his senior season at Portland State University.
“My only chance of getting to play at the next level, I felt, was if I kept playing. They called me in, asked if I ever thought about coaching — totally threw me off. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ They’re like, the MRI is not great, you tore your UCL, and you had an avulsion fracture in your throwing arm,” Alexander told 3DownNation.
“My response was, ‘I played the rest of the game, why can’t I try and play?’ For the rest of the year, I never practiced, and I would only suit up for the games. I’ll play through anything. That’s part of the problem with the hamstring. Soft tissue, I figured out you can’t play through that, but you can play through a UCL and an elbow fracture.”
The Gig Harbor, Wash., native suffered the injury on Saturday, October 2, 2021, against Southern Utah University. After receiving his diagnosis, the five-foot-11, 210-pound QB completed 32-of-48 passes (66.7 percent) for 424 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions, and rushed for one score. That was a single-game career-high in passing yards for him while he was at Portland State.
“We put Icy Hot, some KT Tape, and I wore a sleeve,” Alexander said.
That’s how the Vikings athletic therapy staff helped Alexander be able to play the final six games in his collegiate career. The group couldn’t believe he was able to take the field with multiple injuries in his throwing arm, which led to him being called Wolverine.
“To the best of my ability, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” Alexander said.
“When you do your medical checkout at the end of your career, I had to get a second MRI. They told me the scar tissue from the tear ended up attaching to what was left of the UCL and was acting in form of the UCL. I feel little things, I feel a lot of nerve stuff in my pinky, but it definitely does not affect the way I throw.”
Alexander was being scouted as a prospect who had a chance to become a professional QB. Canadian Football League and National Football League teams knew about his torn UCL and fractured elbow. He remembers the CFL’s all-time leading passer, current Alouettes’ offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo, calling him about the injuries while playing at Portland State.
“One thing about that guy is he is tough as nails. We’ve been great friends since our rookie year. He’s talked about how he’s never hurt, never missed a game, so I knew that about him. I’m surprised he’s just letting that stuff out now,” Tyson Philpot told 3DownNation.
“That’s why seeing him injured last year, it sucked. We watched it, he played a Grey Cup, I’m sure it’s out there now, with a torn hamstring. Something that I wouldn’t be able to walk with, he’s out there running and throwing 50-yard bombs with. Shows how tough he really is.”
Through those final six games at Portland State, Alexander completed 157-of-245 passes (64 percent) for 1,670 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. His grit allowed him to push through the pain and earn his opportunity to be the starting quarterback in Montreal.
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