The Inspiring Story of Alex Smith
He was fired twice. He nearly lost his life. He had almost all of the flesh in his leg removed. Then, he returned to football.
November 18, 2018 was an ordinary NFL Sunday for Alex Smith and the Washington Football Team. They were hosting the Houston Texans at FedEx Field in an important week 10 matchup. Smith, a veteran quarterback who was acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in the spring of 2018, had led Washington to a 6-2 record and first place in the NFC East through the first half of the season. Trailing the Texans in the second half, Smith and the Football Team faced a crucial third down and nine at Houston’s 24-yard line. That’s when everything changed.
Let’s first rewind to 2005, when Smith was a young 21-year-old prospect entering the NFL draft after winning the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and being a first Team All American in 2004 at the University of Utah. Smith and a prospect named Aaron Rodgers out of the University of California were the consensus top two quarterbacks in the 2005 draft. The question was who would go first? The San Francisco 49ers answered that question by selecting Smith with the first overall pick. Rodgers fell all the way to the Green Bay Packers, who selected him with the 24th pick. We all know how great that pick turned out for Green Bay.
For the first six years of his career, Smith and the 49ers were terrible. They had a combined record of 37-59, never finished over .500, never made the playoffs, and went through four head coaches. From 2005-2007, Smith threw for just 19 touchdowns and was intercepted a whopping 31 times. He then missed the entire 2008 season due to injury. Upon returning, Smith was slightly better but still failed to meet the expectations of a #1 overall draft pick. During one game in 2010, Smith was met with deafening boos by his home fans as he threw incompletion after incompletion. Despite being laughed at and ridiculed by fans and media alike, Smith continued to persevere.
San Francisco hired Jim Harbaugh as its head coach in 2011 and Smith immediately began to turn his career around. He had the best year of his career in 2011 and led the Niners to the playoffs. Although they lost in the NFC championship game, the future appeared to be bright for Smith and the Niners.
Smith started the 2012 season off hot, leading San Francisco to a 6-2 start. However, he suffered a concussion in week 10 and Colin Kaepernick took over at quarterback. Even though Smith was cleared to return, the Niners opted to stick with Kaepernick, who was younger and playing well. The Niners made it all the way to the Superbowl that year but were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens. That offseason, Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. San Francisco wouldn’t make it back to the Superbowl until 2020 with a completely new roster and coaching staff.
Smith had plenty of success in Kansas City, making two Pro Bowls and leading the Chiefs to four playoff appearances in five years. However, he struggled when it mattered most, winning just one postseason game. In 2017, the Chiefs traded up to draft Patrick Mahomes with the 10th overall selection. A year later, Smith was traded to Washington.
That leads us back to the 18th of November, 2018. When Smith dropped back to pass on that important third down, he was immediately blitzed and sacked by defensive end J.J. Watt and safety Kareem Jackson all the way back at the Texan 40-yard line. As he was dragged down, Smith’s right leg got caught underneath him and twisted at a terrible angle. Smith was quickly carted off the field on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital. Washington would play three different quarterbacks over its final eight games, losing seven to finish 7-9.
Meanwhile, it was determined that Smith had suffered a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula, meaning that the bone broke through the skin. Smith went in for surgery that night and doctors deemed it a success. However, only a couple days after the procedure, Smith’s temperature suddenly spiked and red, inflamed spots appeared on his leg. Doctors concluded that Smith’s leg was infected with flesh-eating bacteria. As the infection moved up his leg, killing all tissue in its path, it became apparent that Smith was in grave danger. Doctors told him that they could amputate the leg, the safer route, or do something called debridement, which involved cutting out all the infected tissue. This was a riskier option, although it could lead to a more complete recovery. Smith’s wife, Elizabeth, wanted to have the leg amputated to ensure that her husband survived and could move on with his life. However, Alex insisted on doing the debridement, leaving the door open for a potential return to the NFL. When the debridement process was complete, Smith’s leg was decimated. He had virtually no muscle or tissue remaining.
Doctors then took parts of his left calf and quad muscles and moved them to the right leg. They also took skin from his thigh and moved it to the leg to replace the poisonous tissue that was cut out.
Finally, an external fixation device was inserted into the bone to help with the healing process. When it was determined that it could be removed, a rod was inserted into the bone to help with stabilization.
After six months and 17 surgeries, Smith was finally discharged from the hospital and entered a grueling rehab program at the Center for the Intrepid, usually reserved for military veterans. He had to learn to walk and run differently and had to regain strength in his leg before he could return to football activities. Finally, after nearly two years, Smith was medically cleared to return to the field. On October 11, 2020, Smith officially completed his recovery by entering a game against the Los Angeles Rams. While his performance was underwhelming, the weather wasn’t favorable. Then, on November 8, Smith entered a game against the New York Giants after Kyle Allen went down with a dislocated ankle. While Washington lost, Smith threw for 325 yards and completed 75% of his passes. Smith made his first start in nearly two years on November 15 against the Lions. Washington started off slow, scoring just three first half points. However, Smith turned it on in the second half and nearly led Washington to a comeback win. He ended up with 390 passing yards, remarkably a career high. After that loss, Smith led Washington to wins in all five of his remaining starts and the Football Team somehow made the playoffs. However, Smith suffered a right calf strain in the final month of the regular season and was unable to play in Washington’s lone postseason game, a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Alex Smith has been forced to deal with adversity throughout his entire NFL career. He was labeled a draft bust, lost his job twice by no fault of his own, broke his leg, and nearly lost his life to a fluky leg infection. If Smith were to have said that he’d had enough after facing any of these obstacles and called it a career, no one would have batted an eye. Instead, Smith persevered and became a model of hard work that we should all strive to follow. Smith, it seems, has played his entire career with the odds stacked against him, but he has always found a way to overcome them and prove everybody wrong. His perseverance, work ethic, and courage are truly incredible.
Max is in his third year at Edgewood and first on the Edge staff. He enjoys rock climbing, sports, reading, writing, and listening to country music. This year, he hopes to bring some great stories and ideas to The Edge.