Alex Smith Retires
I have nothing but respect for how hard this guy worked to get healthy.
Outstanding.... and congratulations on your NFL career and whatever comes next.
Pretty incredible and courageous to work that hard to come back. Now he will have to settle for having a beautiful family and piles of money.
Absolutely amazing what he went through to come back and be a professional football player. The permanent damage he suffered is quite severe....can’t even imagine how hard it was to play. Even in retirement he’ll be a better qb than Dwayne Haskins.
Showed amazing courage to come back!
Awesome story, talk about leaving with no regrets. His wife had to have been terrified every time he was on the field last year. Smart man!
Anyone else peep the Harbaugh cameo smacking his helmet several times?? ?
Saw the ESPN segment the morning he came back and was suited up to play. Wow. I knew it was serious but not to that extent. I then went and looked for more pictures online and oh my goodness, the horror that that leg was...to know that was suited and padded up to play a football game in the coming year(s) is truly a modern miracle.
Best of luck to this guy. He made some amazing lemonade out of the lemons he was handed.
If Kyle Williams doesn't fumble in OT vs the Giants in 2011, San Fran might go to the Super Bowl and possibly beat NE. Harbaugh could have won a Super Bowl in Year 1, and Smith would have never been surpassed by Kapernick.
My oh my how different our program, the NFL, and for that matter, the culture could have been with just one or two bounces going differently.
my immediate reaction is of relief. Amazing he was able to get back on the field but thank goodness he's decided to retire.
Congratulations Alex and enjoy your next phase with your family.
One hell of a comeback, but can't blame the guy for wanting to hang it up after everything that's happened.
This has to be opening the door wide open for Washington to be looking at a QB in the draft. No Dwayne Haskins either and while Heinicke will be given an opportunity to earn the job after how well he played in the Wild Card game, I doubt Rivera is going to pin the hopes of his team on him.
WFT is picking all the way at 19, and all the real difference-maker QBs will be long gone by then. I wonder if they go balls to the wall to move up and get a guy like Trey Lance or Justin Fields (sounds like SF is enamored with Mac Jones and wants him at 3), or if they decide to sit back and just see if a guy like Kyle Trask works out for them. Washington already has enough pieces on the team to get to the playoffs even without moving up, but Rivera may just decide he's one guy away from really putting his team over the top.
Smart move. If he takes another hit on that knee in the wrong spot at the wrong time he could end up negating the incredible work he put in rehabbing.
I'm a niner fan living in the Bay Area. This guy is the class of all classes. Did so much voluntary works around the community and most of them anonymously or without announcing himself. One time a teen went missing. Volunteers were formed to search the woods nearby. He showed up to that and just was one of the volunteers. Was not on news for any of those - only personal social media of random peeps covered those.
Everything I have heard about him is consistent: He is a very high-quality human being in pretty much every aspect. (As a human he must most certainly have flaws. But he is clearly in the upper strata of admirable humanity.)
Alex Smith has unbelievable courage and determination. His recovery is a story to be marveled.
Alex Smith is a Dude.
Seems like a good dude.
Amazing that he came back to play in the NFL frankly based on his injuries.
Good luck to the guy in what ever he decides to do next.