Alex Smith came into the pros with lofty expectations, and how could that not be the case when you are a Quarterback who was taken first overall?  From Utah, it was the San Francisco 49ers who chose him in 2005, but it was a mixed bag of success, as he struggled on the field and with injuries. 

Missing the 2008 season due to shoulder issues, Smith had to fight to get his job back in 2009, but again, he could not make the upper-echelon of NFL Quarterbacks, though he took the Niners to the playoffs in 2011, and looked to have turned a corner.  Smith got off to his best start in 2012, but a concussion led to him replaced in a game by Colin Kaepernick, who eventually became the permanent starter.  With Kaepernick’s ascendence, Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs after the season’s conclusion.

Smith’s tenure at Arrowhead was the best of his career.  A chief for five seasons (2013-17), Smith led Kansas City to four post-seasons, and he went to three Pro Bowls.  His best year was 2017, where he led the NFL in Passer Rating (104.7) and had career-highs in Passing Yards (4,042) and Passing Touchdowns (26), but this would be his last year with the Chiefs, as they had a young QB in Patrick Mahomes in wait.  Smith, who helped mentor Mahomes, was dealt to Washington, but tragedy was on the horizon.

On November, 18, 2018, Smith broke his right leg when he was tackled by Houston’s Kareem Jackson and J.J. Watt.  Following his first surgery, Smith contracted flesh-eating disease, and it got so bad that amputation was considered.  Seventeen surgeries later, he began rehab, and was a back-up in 2020, until an injury to Kyle Allen put Smith back into the game.  Smith played six Games in 2020, winning five, and he was rewarded with the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Smith retired with 35,650 Yards, a nice amount for a player that always seemed to be a placeholder.  

One of the greatest comebacks in professional football has come to an end, as Quarterback, Alex Smith, has officially retired from the NFL.

Smith came into the pros with lofty expectations, and how could that not be the case when you are a Quarterback who was taken first overall?  From Utah, it was the San Francisco 49ers who chose him in 2005, but it was a mixed bag of success, as he struggled on the field and with injuries.  

Missing the 2008 season due to shoulder issues, Smith had to fight to get his job back in 2009, but again, he could not make the upper-echelon of NFL Quarterbacks, though he took the Niners to the playoffs in 2011, and looked to have turned a corner.  Smith got off to his best start in 2012, but a concussion led to him replaced in a game by Colin Kaepernick, who eventually became the permanent starter.  With Kaepernick’s ascendence, Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs after the season’s conclusion.

Smith’s tenure at Arrowhead was the best of his career.  A chief for five seasons (2013-17), Smith led Kansas City to four post-seasons, and he went to three Pro Bowls.  His best year was 2017, where he led the NFL in Passer Rating (104.7) and had career-highs in Passing Yards (4,042) and Passing Touchdowns (26), but this would be his last year with the Chiefs, as they had a young QB in Patrick Mahomes in wait. Smith, who helped mentor Mahomes, was dealt to Washington, but tragedy was on the horizon.

On November, 18, 2018, Smith broke his right leg when he was tackled by Houston’s Kareem Jackson and J.J. Watt.  Following his first surgery, Smith contracted flesh-eating disease, and it got so bad that amputation was considered.  Seventeen surgeries later, he began rehab, and was a back-up in 2020, until an injury to Kyle Allen put Smith back into the game.  Smith played six Games in 2020, winning five, and he was rewarded with the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Smith retired with 35,650 Yards, a nice amount for a player that always seemed to be a placeholder.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Alex Smith the best his post-playing career.

Born in Liverpool, England, Alex Smith was raised in Ottawa and would become one of the best players ever to come out of that area.  Smith was a star with the original Ottawa Senators where he helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1927.  Twice as a Senator, he would lead the NHL in Defensive Point Shares, and he would do so again in his first and only season with the Detroit Falcons, who took him in the 1931 Dispersal Draft.  Smith would conclude his career with another season in Ottawa and then stints with Boston and the New York Americans.

Select any first overall pick in NFL history, and you’ll usually find a narrative built around immediate stardom or spectacular failure. Alex Smith fit neither box. Selected ahead of Aaron Rodgers by San Francisco in 2005 out of Utah, Smith endured a grueling trial by fire, churning through six offensive coordinators in his first six seasons while battling injuries—including shoulder damage that wiped out his entire 2008 campaign. By the time Jim Harbaugh resurrected his trajectory in 2011, Smith had earned the unfair reputation of an unwanted afterthought, only for a 2012 concussion to open the door for Colin Kaepernick to steal his starting job mid-season.

Traded to Kansas City in 2013 alongside new head coach Andy Reid, Smith walked into a franchise reeling from a 2–14 collapse. Few in Chiefs Kingdom expected a transcendent franchise savior, but Smith provided something infinitely more crucial: flawless operational stability. He won his first nine starts in red and gold, engineering an immediate turnaround that brought Kansas City back to the postseason while earning his first career Pro Bowl selection.

Skeptics routinely tagged him with the "Game Manager" label, criticizing his preference for short high-percentage throws over dangerous downfield risks. Yet that calculated risk aversion fueled Reid’s offensive machine. Smith excelled at protecting the football, unleashing elite dual-threat mobility when pockets collapsed—racking up 1,672 rushing yards in Missouri—and letting Jamaal Charles and Travis Kelce tear defenses apart after the catch.

His redemption peaked in 2017. Shaking off the "captain checkdown" narrative, Smith attacked defenses at every depth, led the entire National Football League with a 104.7 passer rating, and threw for a career-high 4,042 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. He earned his third Pro Bowl nod and orchestrated the league's most efficient passing attack—all while serving as an extraordinary mentor to a rookie first-round pick waiting in the wings named Patrick Mahomes.

History repeated itself in early 2018 when Kansas City traded the veteran to Washington, handing the keys to Mahomes. Yet unlike his exit from the Bay Area, Smith departed Arrowhead as a respected hero who had stabilized a struggling franchise and laid the culture, discipline, and winning foundation for a championship dynasty. After surviving a life-threatening leg injury and infection in Washington to win the 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award, he hung up his cleats as one of the most resilient signal-callers of his generation.

He threw for 17,608 passing yards and 102 touchdown passes against just 33 interceptions, and he rushed for 1,672 yards and 10 touchdowns, posting a 50–26 starting record for Kansas City.