Smith faces old 49ers team with no familiar faces
When Alex Smith steps on the field to take on the San Francisco 49ers for just the second time since being traded away more than seven years ago, little will look familiar.
The rost er and c oa ch i n g staff will have completely changed when Washington (5-7) takes on San Francisco (5-7) on Sunday in a matchup of teams fighting for a playoff spot. Even the location will be different, with the Niners temporarily playing their home games in Arizona after being kicked out of their home stadium because of coronavirus protocols.
“I don’t think it means anything at this point,” Smith said about facing the team that drafted him first overall in 2005. “It’s so far removed. I’m looking forward to seeing the handful of guys that are still around. Throw in the fact that we’re playing in Arizona, that even obviously makes it more different.”
Smith said his time in San Francisco seems like “a lifetime ago.” He has gone through plenty since he was traded to Kansas City in 2013 after losing his starting job to Colin Kaepernick.
He spent five mostly successful years with the Chiefs, going to the playoffs four times, before being traded to Washington to make way for Patrick Mahomes.
Smith got off to a solid start in Washington in 2018 before a horrific, career-threatening leg injury sidelined him for more than a year. Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said Smith’s comeback has earned him as much respect as he has for any player.
“For him to go through what he went through and to still want to come back, it’s definitely not a money thing,” Shanahan said. “The guy does all right in that area. It’s not something he had to do. It shows why he has been successful in everything he’s done.”
That success wasn’t always there in his eight years in San Francisco. He struggled early on the field, dealt with injuries and coaches who didn’t always put him in the best position to succeed or show belief in his ability.
Smith got through all that and helped the Niners reach the NFC championship game in the 2011 season before losing his starting job to Kaepernick midway through the following season after a concussion. That left Smith as a spectator for the Super Bowl that season, and eventually led to the end of his roller- coaster ride with San Francisco.
“It was hard, really hard,” he said. “I don’t wish that on anybody. I think that’s certainly part of also why I try to help young QBS. I don’t want anybody to go through that. It was very, very difficult. It was a hard road to go down, and I learned a lot from it. But I don’t think it’s totally necessary. I don’t think it had to be that way, looking back. A lot of that was my fault as well. I did learn a lot from it at that time, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”