Alex Smith

Originally posted by Dshearn:
Smith was a project, that should have been a second or third rounder.

The 49ers should have never benched Rattay and put Smith in that early. Young QBs only have so much "media and fan forgiveness" before people become critical of them. Rattay was a throw away QB...he could have let him take the abuse that year and just groomed Smith up, so at least when he hit the field he knew what the heck he was looking at. I don't think you will find any other number one pick QB that averaged under 100 yards a game and only had 1 TD his rookie season.

Smith never stood a chance under Nolan.

Ill always remember how the 49ers seemed to do everything wrong with Smith's career, and yet the dude was a class act. Time after time he was the bigger man, and often it seemed the only adult in the room. I was highly critical of his performance, but in hindsight... we could not have asked for a more "49er" 49er. I particularly remember the contract of the Farve-Rodgers handover of power....and Farve going out of his way to not let Rodgers take his Job, versus Smith doing everything in his power to make sure Kap did not have to suffer like he did.

Hindsight tells us, Smith should not have been rated that high as a project, it also tells us Nolan never deserved a QB like Smith. I am glad Smith was able to vindicate his career. I really hope he rides off into the sunset and finds happiness outside of playing football. He has nothing left to prove.

I would be stoked if he came back as a coach or mentor.

Agreed, D. Despite his mediocre play on the field, he was always one of my favorite niners. Such a good person, with strong character. I really wish him the best. He handled the Kap situation with so much class, and the Mahomes situation after that. Pat has repeatedly said he wouldn't be where he is without Alex's help. And that's after putting up arguably the best stats by a QB that year he started in KC.

I'm eager to watch the special on Friday.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by 16to87:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by 16to87:

Originally posted by tjd808185:
17 leg surgeries and he still wants to play.

says a lot about his decision making

Yeah. SUPER conservative to a fault, AMIRITE?

Conservative on the playing field but now willing to risk a leg?... for who? . for what?

Why do you say that playing would risk a leg? If he's cleared it will be because the risk is sufficiently low. I don't see why he would risk it, but it is not my decision nor is it yours. But hey, any way to continue to bad mouth the guy, right?

just to be invited to camp by a team would be a huge thing for alex. if he wants to do and if he gets cleared... i bet someone would do that

Originally posted by Dshearn:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:
Sucked is being really unfair. He got two teams to the Playoffs and nearly had the Redskins of all teams looking respectable. Is he great? no....but he is good. Our own disfunction when he was here set him back a lot.

Smith was a project, that should have been a second or third rounder.

The 49ers should have never benched Rattay and put Smith in that early. Young QBs only have so much "media and fan forgiveness" before people become critical of them. Rattay was a throw away QB...he could have let him take the abuse that year and just groomed Smith up, so at least when he hit the field he knew what the heck he was looking at. I don't think you will find any other number one pick QB that averaged under 100 yards a game and only had 1 TD his rookie season.

Smith never stood a chance under Nolan.

Ill always remember how the 49ers seemed to do everything wrong with Smith's career, and yet the dude was a class act. Time after time he was the bigger man, and often it seemed the only adult in the room. I was highly critical of his performance, but in hindsight... we could not have asked for a more "49er" 49er. I particularly remember the contract of the Farve-Rodgers handover of power....and Farve going out of his way to not let Rodgers take his Job, versus Smith doing everything in his power to make sure Kap did not have to suffer like he did.

Hindsight tells us, Smith should not have been rated that high as a project, it also tells us Nolan never deserved a QB like Smith. I am glad Smith was able to vindicate his career. I really hope he rides off into the sunset and finds happiness outside of playing football. He has nothing left to prove.

I would be stoked if he came back as a coach or mentor.

Great post.

Originally posted by Furlow:

Originally posted by Dshearn:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:
Sucked is being really unfair. He got two teams to the Playoffs and nearly had the Redskins of all teams looking respectable. Is he great? no....but he is good. Our own disfunction when he was here set him back a lot.

Smith was a project, that should have been a second or third rounder.

The 49ers should have never benched Rattay and put Smith in that early. Young QBs only have so much "media and fan forgiveness" before people become critical of them. Rattay was a throw away QB...he could have let him take the abuse that year and just groomed Smith up, so at least when he hit the field he knew what the heck he was looking at. I don't think you will find any other number one pick QB that averaged under 100 yards a game and only had 1 TD his rookie season.

Smith never stood a chance under Nolan.

Ill always remember how the 49ers seemed to do everything wrong with Smith's career, and yet the dude was a class act. Time after time he was the bigger man, and often it seemed the only adult in the room. I was highly critical of his performance, but in hindsight... we could not have asked for a more "49er" 49er. I particularly remember the contract of the Farve-Rodgers handover of power....and Farve going out of his way to not let Rodgers take his Job, versus Smith doing everything in his power to make sure Kap did not have to suffer like he did.

Hindsight tells us, Smith should not have been rated that high as a project, it also tells us Nolan never deserved a QB like Smith. I am glad Smith was able to vindicate his career. I really hope he rides off into the sunset and finds happiness outside of playing football. He has nothing left to prove.

I would be stoked if he came back as a coach or mentor.

Great post.

Yes, Smith could have cried about not being the starter for our Super Bowl against the Ravens but he didn't. He backed up Kap like a boss.

He & Kap seemed to have just as good a relationship as he and Mahomes.

Alex is a true team player.

Damn his wife is hot af. Best nfl wife possibly. Way hotter than overrated Giselle

Originally posted by sacniner:

Damn his wife is hot af. Best nfl wife possibly. Way hotter than overrated Giselle

Maybe now, but Giselle in her prime was way better.

Originally posted by TheGore49er:

Originally posted by sacniner:
Damn his wife is hot af. Best nfl wife possibly. Way hotter than overrated Giselle

Maybe now, but Giselle in her prime was way better.

oh how i long to be alex, come sponge bath time

Originally posted by Dshearn:
Smith was a project, that should have been a second or third rounder.

The 49ers should have never benched Rattay and put Smith in that early. Young QBs only have so much "media and fan forgiveness" before people become critical of them. Rattay was a throw away QB...he could have let him take the abuse that year and just groomed Smith up, so at least when he hit the field he knew what the heck he was looking at. I don't think you will find any other number one pick QB that averaged under 100 yards a game and only had 1 TD his rookie season.

Smith never stood a chance under Nolan.

Ill always remember how the 49ers seemed to do everything wrong with Smith's career, and yet the dude was a class act. Time after time he was the bigger man, and often it seemed the only adult in the room. I was highly critical of his performance, but in hindsight... we could not have asked for a more "49er" 49er. I particularly remember the contract of the Farve-Rodgers handover of power....and Farve going out of his way to not let Rodgers take his Job, versus Smith doing everything in his power to make sure Kap did not have to suffer like he did.

Hindsight tells us, Smith should not have been rated that high as a project, it also tells us Nolan never deserved a QB like Smith. I am glad Smith was able to vindicate his career. I really hope he rides off into the sunset and finds happiness outside of playing football. He has nothing left to prove.

I would be stoked if he came back as a coach or mentor.

If Smith was a project, then Rodgers should not have gone in round one, and no if SF had taken him #1 he would not be the Aaron Rogers we all know today. GB completely rebuilt him as QB (which took years to do). I am pretty sure Nolan would not of done that & would of thrown him in the same way he did with Alex. Knowing what we know now he wouldn't of handled it well, but without his HOF pedigree to save him, probably gets dumped after his rookie deal. People also forget how good Alex was at Utah. Sure some of that was because of Urban Meyer (who also said it wouldn't go well to start him right away, if you gave him time he could be great), but he had really good physical tools 6'4" pretty good arm ran a 4.7 40, 32' vertical and a 40 Wonderlic. It wasn't a shock he was going #1. If not for the injury Alex would probably have over 100 wins as a QB (outside of the QBs still playing everyone with over 100 wins is in the HOF). I mean he had dumpster fire Washington at 6-4. So maybe he wasn't going to pass for 30+ TDs a season. But he is also someone who will get you 9-10+ wins on average. FWIW: Philip Rivers was 77-83 from 2010-2019 while averaging almost 30 TDs a season. Alex Smith from 2010-2018 was 78-42 while averaging 18 TDs a season.

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Dshearn:
Smith was a project, that should have been a second or third rounder.

The 49ers should have never benched Rattay and put Smith in that early. Young QBs only have so much "media and fan forgiveness" before people become critical of them. Rattay was a throw away QB...he could have let him take the abuse that year and just groomed Smith up, so at least when he hit the field he knew what the heck he was looking at. I don't think you will find any other number one pick QB that averaged under 100 yards a game and only had 1 TD his rookie season.

Smith never stood a chance under Nolan.

Ill always remember how the 49ers seemed to do everything wrong with Smith's career, and yet the dude was a class act. Time after time he was the bigger man, and often it seemed the only adult in the room. I was highly critical of his performance, but in hindsight... we could not have asked for a more "49er" 49er. I particularly remember the contract of the Farve-Rodgers handover of power....and Farve going out of his way to not let Rodgers take his Job, versus Smith doing everything in his power to make sure Kap did not have to suffer like he did.

Hindsight tells us, Smith should not have been rated that high as a project, it also tells us Nolan never deserved a QB like Smith. I am glad Smith was able to vindicate his career. I really hope he rides off into the sunset and finds happiness outside of playing football. He has nothing left to prove.

I would be stoked if he came back as a coach or mentor.

If Smith was a project, then Rodgers should not have gone in round one, and no if SF had taken him #1 he would not be the Aaron Rogers we all know today. GB completely rebuilt him as QB (which took years to do). I am pretty sure Nolan would not of done that & would of thrown him in the same way he did with Alex. Knowing what we know now he wouldn't of handled it well, but without his HOF pedigree to save him, probably gets dumped after his rookie deal. People also forget how good Alex was at Utah. Sure some of that was because of Urban Meyer (who also said it wouldn't go well to start him right away, if you gave him time he could be great), but he had really good physical tools 6'4" pretty good arm ran a 4.7 40, 32' vertical and a 40 Wonderlic. It wasn't a shock he was going #1. If not for the injury Alex would probably have over 100 wins as a QB (outside of the QBs still playing everyone with over 100 wins is in the HOF). I mean he had dumpster fire Washington at 6-4. So maybe he wasn't going to pass for 30+ TDs a season. But he is also someone who will get you 9-10+ wins on average. FWIW: Philip Rivers was 77-83 from 2010-2019 while averaging almost 30 TDs a season. Alex Smith from 2010-2018 was 78-42 while averaging 18 TDs a season.

Noooo telling what would have happened if you flipped history.......... Most people would agree that Aaron Rodgers is a much superior football player. The arm strength, the release, the accuracy are all superior. What we didn't know back then, was how strong Alex Smith's mind was. The narrative was Smith would do the stupid pointless drills Nolan requested and Rodgers call him out on it. Smith was viewed as a yes man, and Rodgers might be un-coachable. Or at least thats the story we have from Nolan/Smith/Rodgers.

I think you are not far form the truth, Nolan very well could have destroyed Rodgers as we know him, in fact...... We probably don't give Smith enough credit for surviving the Nolan era. Nolan could have cratered Rodgers career to the point he could not salvage it the way Smith did.

Nolan was passive aggressive with Smith....that likely would have just been Aggressive-Aggressive with Rodgers, and he could have been benched and rotted the remainder of his 6 year contract or to the change of coaches.

Rodgers could very well have been labeled coach killer, or a locker room cancer. Hell that's actually very likely. When we try to re-write history with our "what-ifs" I don't think we pay enough attention to that.

Smith's nature of not having everything be about him, to an extent took some of that failure off of him, in retrospect we all can see it was mostly beyond his control. A ME guy like Rodgers is awesome when things are working. Lord knows Rodgers is a real Alpha guy. But we all have to admit, its much more likely he would struggle more then shine early on with those teams. When its me me me, and crap does not work....it really does become you you you.

Very few people have the mental fortitude, mental strength of Alex Smith. The dude has been though some real s**t in his NFL career.

Highest respect for Alex Smith as both a quarterback and a man.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
Why do you say that playing would risk a leg? If he's cleared it will be because the risk is sufficiently low. I don't see why he would risk it, but it is not my decision nor is it yours. But hey, any way to continue to bad mouth the guy, right?

That comment is unnecessary. Stop pushing the edge.

Originally posted by WestCoastForever:
Highest respect for Alex Smith as both a quarterback and a man.

Incredible mental and physical toughness. i am not sure about his short time in washington but i know in san fran and in kc.. he also heavily invested himself in the community that he played for.. thats huge

Originally posted by Dshearn:

Originally posted by Jcool:

Originally posted by Dshearn:
Smith was a project, that should have been a second or third rounder.

The 49ers should have never benched Rattay and put Smith in that early. Young QBs only have so much "media and fan forgiveness" before people become critical of them. Rattay was a throw away QB...he could have let him take the abuse that year and just groomed Smith up, so at least when he hit the field he knew what the heck he was looking at. I don't think you will find any other number one pick QB that averaged under 100 yards a game and only had 1 TD his rookie season.

Smith never stood a chance under Nolan.

Ill always remember how the 49ers seemed to do everything wrong with Smith's career, and yet the dude was a class act. Time after time he was the bigger man, and often it seemed the only adult in the room. I was highly critical of his performance, but in hindsight... we could not have asked for a more "49er" 49er. I particularly remember the contract of the Farve-Rodgers handover of power....and Farve going out of his way to not let Rodgers take his Job, versus Smith doing everything in his power to make sure Kap did not have to suffer like he did.

Hindsight tells us, Smith should not have been rated that high as a project, it also tells us Nolan never deserved a QB like Smith. I am glad Smith was able to vindicate his career. I really hope he rides off into the sunset and finds happiness outside of playing football. He has nothing left to prove.

I would be stoked if he came back as a coach or mentor.

If Smith was a project, then Rodgers should not have gone in round one, and no if SF had taken him #1 he would not be the Aaron Rogers we all know today. GB completely rebuilt him as QB (which took years to do). I am pretty sure Nolan would not of done that & would of thrown him in the same way he did with Alex. Knowing what we know now he wouldn't of handled it well, but without his HOF pedigree to save him, probably gets dumped after his rookie deal. People also forget how good Alex was at Utah. Sure some of that was because of Urban Meyer (who also said it wouldn't go well to start him right away, if you gave him time he could be great), but he had really good physical tools 6'4" pretty good arm ran a 4.7 40, 32' vertical and a 40 Wonderlic. It wasn't a shock he was going #1. If not for the injury Alex would probably have over 100 wins as a QB (outside of the QBs still playing everyone with over 100 wins is in the HOF). I mean he had dumpster fire Washington at 6-4. So maybe he wasn't going to pass for 30+ TDs a season. But he is also someone who will get you 9-10+ wins on average. FWIW: Philip Rivers was 77-83 from 2010-2019 while averaging almost 30 TDs a season. Alex Smith from 2010-2018 was 78-42 while averaging 18 TDs a season.

Noooo telling what would have happened if you flipped history.......... Most people would agree that Aaron Rodgers is a much superior football player. The arm strength, the release, the accuracy are all superior. What we didn't know back then, was how strong Alex Smith's mind was. The narrative was Smith would do the stupid pointless drills Nolan requested and Rodgers call him out on it. Smith was viewed as a yes man, and Rodgers might be un-coachable. Or at least thats the story we have from Nolan/Smith/Rodgers.

I think you are not far form the truth, Nolan very well could have destroyed Rodgers as we know him, in fact...... We probably don't give Smith enough credit for surviving the Nolan era. Nolan could have cratered Rodgers career to the point he could not salvage it the way Smith did.

Nolan was passive aggressive with Smith....that likely would have just been Aggressive-Aggressive with Rodgers, and he could have been benched and rotted the remainder of his 6 year contract or to the change of coaches.

Rodgers could very well have been labeled coach killer, or a locker room cancer. Hell that's actually very likely. When we try to re-write history with our "what-ifs" I don't think we pay enough attention to that.

Smith's nature of not having everything be about him, to an extent took some of that failure off of him, in retrospect we all can see it was mostly beyond his control. A ME guy like Rodgers is awesome when things are working. Lord knows Rodgers is a real Alpha guy. But we all have to admit, its much more likely he would struggle more then shine early on with those teams. When its me me me, and crap does not work....it really does become you you you.

Very few people have the mental fortitude, mental strength of Alex Smith. The dude has been though some real s**t in his NFL career.

Nice work by both of you.