Alex Smith may not have had the career trajectory that some former No. 1 overall quarterbacks have had. The former Utah product won’t retire with a Super Bowl appearance, which at least Cam Newton can speak of. He certainly won’t know the joys of hoisting a Lombardi Trophy, a feat Troy Aikman accomplished three times in his career.
However, Smith was a quarterback that could instantly upgrade the position once he led the San Francisco 49ers to a 13-3 record in 2011. He solved Kansas City’s quarterback quandary in 2013 when he started for Andy Reid in their first season together with the Chiefs. Even Washington was in first place in the NFC East when an untimely broken leg pushed his career to the brink.
What no one say about Smith is that he didn’t fight. Smith kept battling, and as Winston Churchill said, it is the courage to continue that counts.