Chiefs lineman says he played through Super Bowl LVIII with painful elbow injury

Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Nick Allegretti revealed Friday he played through Super Bowl LVIII with a significant injury as the team was already battling through hurt players.

Allegretti started the Super Bowl at guard in place of Joe Thuney. He said on "The Jim Rome Show" he suffered an injury in the second quarter when San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa finished a tackle on his arm.

"I haven't suffered an injury like that until then," Allegretti said on the show. "I immediately knew. It was something that you heard a pop, you felt it, and knowing minimal about anatomy, knew that something was wrong in my elbow. Because my elbow is not supposed to bend that way. 

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Kansas City Chiefs guard Nick Allegretti in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA Today Sports)

"Fortunately, we had the two-minute warning, and I had a couple seconds to gather myself, figure out that my arm was still bent, and I was able to go. It was a tough situation, but fortunate enough I was able to still play."

Allegretti suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). He ended up playing 79 snaps in the Super Bowl in extreme pain and helped the Chiefs win the game 25-22.

He had only made one start in 2023 and three starts in 2022 before he was called upon to try to pick up another ring. He had been with the Chiefs since the 2019 season.

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Nick Allegretti of the Kansas City Chiefs blocks during Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images)

"I would say, for me, I don't think you'll ever experience a nine or 10," he said of the pain of the injury. "If you do it's going to be something really, really bad. So I was probably in that six or seven [range] right when it happened after I processed it. And then, at halftime, we were able to get the cream on it, massage it a little bit and then throw a brace on it. I was probably playing at about a five. 

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

Allegretti said one of his teammates reminded him that he didn’t need a UCL to play, and it was enough motivation for him to keep being on the field.

Nick Allegretti of the Kansas City Chiefs blocks Javon Hargrave of the San Francisco 49ers in overtime during Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, 2024. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

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The 27-year-old is set to be an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins.

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