Former Chiefs QB Alex Smith receives warm welcome in Kansas City homecoming

#ChiefsKingdom gave former starting QB Alex Smith a warm welcome during his return to Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night with ESPN. | from @TheJohnDillon

Perhaps no single player excepting Patrick Mahomes has done more for the Kansas City Chiefs ascent to the apex of the NFL in the last decade than Alex Smith. After the team acquired him in a 2013 trade with San Francisco, Smith went on to lead a team that went 2-14 the previous year to a playoff berth. Despite his share of trouble in the playoffs during his time with the Chiefs, he ended up winning 50 games for the team in his tenure under Andy Reid.

Fans were ready to move on in 2018 after Mahomes rode the bench his rookie season and the Chiefs lost a heartbreaking 22-21 Wild Card game to Tennessee before Smith was unceremoniously traded to Washington. The gruesome leg injury he sustained with the Washington Football Team, and his improbable comeback after a long recovery progress won him the Comeback Player of the Year award before his retirement.

Now an analyst for ESPN, appearing on their NFL Monday Night Countdown, Smith returned to Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs’ game against New York this past week. Fans showed their love for him in a way they rarely did when he was under contract. He showed emotion on the jumbotron while whipping the crowd into a frenzy during the game when he appeared on the GEHA Drum Deck.

As excited as he seemed to be back at Arrowhead, the fans were unbelievably loud when he made his appearance, giving the impression that he was a most honored guest in the Chiefs Kingdom after three years away from the team. Smith re-connected with some of his former teammates on the sideline before the game, giving fans another look at what used to be before watching the next evolution take care of business against the Giants.

Not everybody appreciated Smith’s time in Kansas City, but there wasn’t a fan in the house Monday night that didn’t come to a full-throated roar in support of their former signal-caller.

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