Joe Staley: Tackle’s path to selfbelief began after Strahan dominated him
MIAMI — Joe Staley’s 13season career is a testament to sustained excellence, but it also has been bookended by two games in which accomplished pass rushers treated the 49ers’ left tackle like a turnstile.
Staley’s response to those starts, perhaps his worst in the NFL, highlight qualities that have made him one of the best blindside protectors of his generation.
In a recent interview, Staley, 35, reflected on those moments from his rookie season and recent past. And he did so before a game that could provide the pinnacle of a career filled with adversity and achievement, one that has included six Pro Bowls, seven 10loss seasons,
who was drafted to take his job. He worked with the rookie teammates in the offseason, helped them learn the playbook, sat in meeting rooms with them. And then watched them take his job.
“Alex was always a very selfless human being,” said 49ers tackle Joe Staley, who became one of Smith’s best friends when they were teammates. “He embodied the idea of, ‘Whatever I can do to the team to make it better.’ ”
If you think this is normal behavior in professional sports, you’re wrong. Established players often feel threatened by younger ones. On occasion, the older players are downright hostile. Steve Young learned by watching Joe Montana, but he wasn’t exactly being tutored. Brett Favre tolerated Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. Many older players try to guard their territory and view their backups with suspicion and jealousy. Not Smith. “Alex Smith was phenomenal,” Kansas City head coach Andy Reid said. “He wasn’t asked to do this. He let Patrick into his world.”
The Chiefs’ transition from Smith to Mahomes was far less messy than what Smith had endured five years earlier, when 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh made the switch to Colin Kaepernick.
Under Harbaugh, Smith finally was experiencing success. He had led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game in the 2011 season. In 2012, his team had a 62 record when he played the Rams. He suffered a concussion in that game, and then Kaepernick entered.
By the time Smith exited concussion protocol, Harbaugh had made up his mind. Kaepernick was his starting quarterback, one who would lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl. Throughout the second half of that season, Smith was on the sideline and the bench going through photos and plays with Kaepernick.
At that Super Bowl in New Orleans, there was the particularly awkward media session when Kaepernick was at the podium answering questions, but the bigger crowd was around Smith, who was standing off to the side — no podium — answering questions about how he felt to lose his job. Those who follow the league knew how unusual his support and grace were under the circumstances.
It was different in Kansas City. Smith turned 33 soon after Mahomes was drafted with the 10th overall pick. Maybe Smith wasn’t thrilled, but he could certainly see the writing on the wall.
And Mahomes is an unusually mature and coachable young man, who was ready to learn.
“Patrick handled it the right way,” Reid said. “He was humbled around Alex. He didn’t try to overstep his bounds. Alex let him tag along on and off the field. He showed him how to be a pro. How to study, about diet and workout plans, how to work your family into the NFL.
“I joke but it’s true: Patrick couldn’t pay Alex enough for what he gave him. That experience. It was a unique situation.” Staley isn’t surprised. “Yeah, he probably knew guys were taking his job,” Staley said. “But I think he had enough confidence in himself as a player and as a human being to not worry about that. And to do whatever he could to help a young player develop and get better. And, in turn, he got better in the process.”
Mahomes said he watched how Smith prepared, how he worked during the week, how he game planned.
“He taught me a lot about how to read coverages,” Mahomes said. “Little tips. How to read the front to see who’s blitzing.
“Just him being the person that he was — he’s a great person in general. I know a lot of other quarterbacks go into situations where they don’t get help like that. I’m just blessed to be in a situation where I was behind him and with this organization.”
Smith was traded to Washington in January 2018. He signed a fouryear, $94 million extension with the team and was having success, leading the team to a 63 record, when he suffered a terrible injury to his right leg. A compound and spiral fracture to his tibia and fibula ended his season. He suffered a serious infection postsurgery along with other complications. He has mostly guarded his privacy during his rehabilitation, and even though many have speculated the injury could end his career, he said in December that he hopes to play again.
Now he is one of a group of ex49ers quarterbacks who also played for the Chiefs who sees his two teams facing each other in the Super Bowl. A game in which he hasn’t played. Who is he rooting for? “I just talked to him after last week’s game,” Mahomes said. “He texted me and congratulated me.”
Staley said, “I don’t know who he’s pulling for, but he texted me and said that he’s happy that I get this opportunity late in his career.”
Smith is pulling for his teammates. All of them.
Of course.