Rivera, Smith changing tone in Washington
It’s a franchise long known for dysfunction.
But now it’s all about inspiration.
And that’s because of its cancersurviving head coach and comeback quarterback.
The Washington Football Team, whose current name is a nod to a recent past filled with often unseemly controversy, has become a feelgood story entering Sunday’s meeting against the 49ers.
Washington has beaten odds to quickly become embraceable, and that’s because of the oddsbeating men with Bay Area ties who occupy the team’s most prominent positions: head coach Ron Rivera and quarterback Alex Smith.
Rivera, 58, who grew up in Seaside and was an AllAmerica linebacker at Cal, successfully finished seven weeks of chemotherapy and proton radiation treatment in late October for squamouscell cancer in his throat.
Smith, 36, the No. 1 overall pick by the 49ers in 2005 who spent eight mettletesting seaBarry
sons with the team, has successfully returned from a horrific leg injury suffered just more than two years ago that required 17 operations and threatened his life.
Rivera, who inherited a 313 team in January, will get Coach of the Year consideration if Washington ( 57) keeps this up: Washington is on a threegame winning streak and is tied for the NFC East lead after shocking the previously unbeaten Steelers on Monday in one of the biggest upsets of the season.
As for Smith, he’d win the Comeback Player of the Year award if he didn’t play another snap in 2020. Washington’s aboutface from a 26 start has roughly coincided with his insertion into the starting lineup. Smith, not long removed from considering the amputation of his right leg, is 31 since becoming the starter.
Before Rivera, Smith has played for two defensiveminded head coaches in his career, both with the 49ers, and the lack of support he received from Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary was a factor in his early career struggles.
With Rivera, Smith shares an unspoken bond based on their serious medical issues.
“I think it goes unsaid — we just kind of know,” Rivera said. “We look at each other and we just kind of know: ‘ Man, congrats. I know you’ve gone through a lot.’ And I really think that’s the cool thing about it is that I think we do have a bond.
“I admire who he is. I really do. Just that, not only did he want to come back, it wasn’t one of those things just to show people. I think it was because he really truly loved the game.”
Rivera and Smith have infused a franchise known for toxicity with talk of strength and love.
This summer, the Washington Post ran two articles detailing widespread sexual harassment and misconduct throughout owner Dan Snyder’s 21year tenure that led to the firing of multiple frontoffice executives. In July, the team finally bowed to public pressure to change its 87yearold name, which is considered a racial slur — a move Snyder once said he would never make.
And Snyder, who has cycled through 10 head coaches since taking over the franchise, also often has presided over a mess on the field: Washington hasn’t won a playoff game since January 2006.
Rivera’s primary charge is to win. But one of the NFL’s most widely respected coaches is also involved in changing the culture. He noted Wednesday the hiring in August of Jason Wright, 38, the first Black president of an NFL team. Wright is a former NFL running back who was working as a partner in a consulting firm after earning an MBA at the University of Chicago.
“He’s a former player, and he’s a guy that gets it,” Rivera said. “He’s got a tremendous background in business, and so we’ve implemented a lot of things here to try to prevent those things from happening. If they do, we will deal with them up front.”
Rivera already has dealt with plenty this season.
He was told by doctors that his chemotherapy and radiation treatment likely would leave him so wrung out that he’d miss at least a week of work at some point this season. However, Rivera missed just a handful of practices and meetings and has been on the sideline for all 12 games. He took IVs to stay hydrated, grabbed regular naps in his office and often left the team facility by 6 p. m. because of exhaustion.
“It got tough halfway through,” Rivera said. “It got hard. But we had a good group of people here helping me. And I was able to get through it for the most part. I still deal with some fatigue, and some brain fog that kind of kicks in every now and then makes it hard. But for the most part, it’s been really good.”
The same could be said of Smith, who threw for a careerhigh 390 yards in his first start this season before tossing three touchdown passes and two interceptions in three straight wins.
Smith’s story is jawdropping to anyone who saw the ESPN documentary, “Project 11,” that detailed his surgeries and rehabilitation.
Smith had several debridement procedures, which cut damaged muscle and tissue from the leg, and the results were grisly enough to inspire a “viewer discretion advised” warning before his leg was shown in the documentary.
Rivera said it’s probably not a coincidence that Washington has become resurgent with Smith as the starter.
“I think that’s a big part of it,” Rivers said. “They do draw strength from what Alex has gone through and the fact that he’s out there doing what he does.”
Of course, with Washington, a franchise with a new name and, perhaps, a new direction, it’s not just the quarterback who is inspiring.