FORMER 49ER SMITH RETIRES
Alex Smith retired Monday from an inspirational 16-year career, all of which began with enormous expectations as the 49ers’ No. 1 overall draft pick.
That April night in New York City, in retrospect, revealed the strong-willed determination that’s defined him.
After he took a ceremonial photo-op with “A. SMITH” and the No. 1 stitched onto the 49ers’ red jersey, and after his initial wave of media interviews, Smith got pulled aside in a corridor to field a couple questions from a couple San Francisco-based reporters at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
I bluntly asked Smith if he knew what he was in for, in terms of how a depleted 49ers roster awaited him cross-country.
“No, tell me,” Smith replied with a smile, and an uh-oh, how-bad-is-it look on his face, while his agent and the 49ers’ public-relations handler listened on nearby.
Turns out, I was the ignorant one, unaware of what a remarkable career was in store for such a classy guy who overcame so much and endured far too much.
Smith’s steely determination and competitive drive was there from the jump. And it was on brilliant display last year, when he won the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award.
Smith won his final five starts for a playoff-contenting Washington team, which was such a fitting exit because ...
He lost his first five starts with the 49ers, with no touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. He debuted in Week 5 against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts — akin to the 49ers’ incoming rookie QB potentially matching up this October with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
Rodgers, of course, is forever intertwined with Smith. They were the 49ers’ finalists in 2005. Then-coach Mike Nolan was convinced that Smith’s demeanor, personality and skill
set were better equipped for the 49ers’ growing pains.
“Obviously you need people around you,” Smith said to me on draft night. “I feel like with time and experience, absolutely I can carry more of a load on my shoulders, carry a team, and get a lot done.
“There’s going to be a learning curve and I expect to learn a lot in the next few years and truly develop. I’m still young,” said Smith, who was then just 20. “You do need people around you to win. It’s not a one-man show.”
Keep that in mind for the quarterback drafted No. 3 by the 49ers on April 29, when Jimmy Garoppolo’s eventual successor will join a playoff-ready roster that is much better than what Smith inherited in 2005.
The 49ers’ best supporting cast came at the end of Smith’s tenure, in the 201112 playoff runs. His 28-yard touchdown run that briefly put the 49ers ahead with 2:11 left against the New Orleans Saints had Candlestick Park in full-throat before the 49ers secured their first playoff win since 2002. (A clip of Smith’s run was in his two-minute, 12-second retirement video.)
He was playing arguably his best with the 49ers through the first half of the 2012 season, only to sustain a concussion on a hit from the Rams’ Jo-Lonn Dunbar on Nov. 11. Smith went to the bench. The Colin Kaepernick era began.
When Super Bowl week hit, Smith sat at a nondescript table during the morning media availabilities and bit his lip as he awaited his post-Super Bowl trade. Hard luck shadowed him throughout his career, from the annual turnover at offensive coordinator to injuries, including a shoulder issue that made some (including me) foolishly question his grit because of Nolan’s depiction of it.
Then Smith went to Kansas City, reviving a pipeline of 49ers QBs that included Joe Montana, Elvis Grbac and Steve Bono. The Chiefs went to the playoffs four times in Smith’s five years, and they benefitted from Smith’s grace with how he mentored future MVP and Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes.