The veteran quarterback survived benchings, doubting coaches and an injury that almost cost him his life. He walks away from football a hero
If the NFL ever renames its Comeback Player of the Year award after Alex Smith, the reasons will go much deeper than a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback who returned to the field after a gruesome leg fracture threatened his life.
Smith announced his retirement on Monday after 16 NFL seasons that even the most imaginative Hollywood screenwriter couldn’t have dreamed up. In his moving retirement announcement on Instagram, Smith understandably talked about perseverance and wanting to be able to take walks with his wife and how he’ll now school his kids in the backyard. But there was a line in there that seemed a bit off: “Football wouldn’t let me give up.”
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