Alex Smith named Comeback Player of the Year

Journalists certainly can edit words all over the place.

At the same though, the sentences simply do have to be taken at face value sometimes if there is not a lot of "gray" in the situation. If Kyle Allen does not go down, he'd probably remain buried on the PUP.

Perhaps the doubt was not malicious or mean-spirited, but rather just a "we just don't expect you to come back because its so severe". Still, I would feel "cold" by such treatment even if not malicious.
 
I gotta say this - those comments make me think a little less of Alex Smith, not a little more. I say that because most of what he says in relation to the team's mentality towards him is pretty self-serving. Hey Alex - other than me and 3 wino's talking shit somewhere on 14th Street, NO ONE thought you could come back. You have a calf that looks like a thigh, walked around with chicken wire and bolts showing for 6 months, you were a walking breathing horror show...

It's not the team's, and especially not a new Head Coach's job to give you the perfect ending for your Cinderella story.

The idea that any other team in the NFL would've put Alex Smith on the field in 2020 - unless they absolutely had to - is ridiculous.
 
Boone said:
I gotta say this - those comments make me think a little less of Alex Smith, not a little more. I say that because most of what he says in relation to the team's mentality towards him is pretty self-serving. Hey Alex - other than me and 3 wino's talking shit somewhere on 14th Street, NO ONE thought you could come back. You have a calf that looks like a thigh, walked around with chicken wire and bolts showing for 6 months, you were a walking breathing horror show...

It's not the team's, and especially not a new Head Coach's job to give you the perfect ending for your Cinderella story.

The idea that any other team in the NFL would've put Alex Smith on the field in 2020 - unless they absolutely had to - is ridiculous.
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Yeah it's not a great look...
 
I sort of wonder if he realizes he’s not in their plans (other than a possibility of being a backup with a huge pay cut) and is trying to force their hand now? He may see getting released early as his best option, but I actually think his best bet would be to take the backup gig. He’d still be one play away from being on the field. I don’t see other teams fighting each other for the right to sign him, even as a backup.
 
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I’m gonna assume they’ve informed Alex that his services will no longer be needed and that’s why he’s painting himself the victim in the media at this point.

Edit: STOP stealing my thoughts as I’m typing Boone! I’m slow mmmkay
 
I love, love, love what Alex has accomplished. The feel good story has now concluded though. The human in me was never even remotely comfortable watching him play.

That said, the team rightly needs to act in the best interest of the ‘team’ now. He either needs to be an inexpensive back-up/mentor, added to the coaching staff, or sent on his way toward other opportunities.
 
Chris said:
I love, love, love what Alex has accomplished. The feel good story has now concluded though. The human in me was never even remotely comfortable watching him play.

That said, the team rightly needs to act in the best interest of the ‘team’ now. He either needs to be an inexpensive back-up/mentor, added to the coaching staff, or sent on his way toward other opportunities.
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100%


I think it's perfectly acceptable to appreciate Alex and his accomplishments, and be proud he did it in our jersey. Appreciating his ability to win games, but understanding that he was not necessarily the on field reason.... At the same time having the fair opinion that his play does not warrant his cap number for 2021.
 
No professional athlete is guaranteed a position on the roster despite the fact they may have guaranteed money still due them.

Alex Smith received a large contract on coming to Washington based on his 2017 season in KC and to be honest even when healthy he has looked little like that player that Andy Reid was able to coax into a top 5-7 passer that year.

After the injury no one thought he was going to be able to come back to the NFL, much like no one thought Joe Theismann was going to come back from the gruesome leg injury he suffered on MNF in 1985. That wasn't only in Washington but throughout the league. NFL commentators thought he had little chance of running an NFL offense again.

Despite having won a Super Bowl and being an NFL MVP, Joe Gibbs was already planning for a post-Theismann period when Joe was trying to rehab to come back.

It's what coaches do. The NFL is about tomorrow not yesterday.

Ron Rivera came to a team that finished 3-13 and was the second worst team overall in the NFL in 2019.

It's not unreasonable, despite Alex's sentiments, for a new head coach in that situation to believe a complete rebuild which was necessary was one that should start with a quarterback that was not 36-37 years old and coming off a severe injury.

I am sure based on the nature of the injury Rivera didn't realistically believe that Smith or no Smith was going to be a consideration heading into 2020.

Alex shocked everyone and that's great for him. He came back and played at an NFL level for 6 games before he was hurt again. He managed the offense and limited mistakes (outside of that first Giants game with 3 picks) but then he went down again with what was described as a minor injury to the calf.

And yet that calf injury lasted more than a month and seemed to really limit what he could do on the field. It prevented him from being able to play in Washington's playoff contest against the Buccaneers.

So, in all probability Alex realizes Washington is not looking at him being a contributor on the 2021 roster and is hurt by the fact Ron is necessarily moving on at quarterback to younger, healthier options.
 
He got a lot of the facts right, but in typical snarky, insinuating fashion, manages to be an arrogant prick in the process :) It IS surprising that Smith would publicly cry about how he was 'treated'. He got totally shat on, his career damaged, by two different franchises who gave up on him and then asked him to train his replacement. Ultimately, Rivera gave him the chance to prove he could still play. He played (I'm not sure I would argue he 'proved he could still play' though. As for the playoff decision, Smith should've been benched before halftime in the season finale. We should've lost that game and likely would have if they hadn't pulled him. There was no way they could put him out there against the Bucs defense. Taylor Heinicke played the best game we've seen from a Washington QB in 5 years and that was barely enough to keep us in it for most of the game. Smith couldn't have done that.

It's sour grapes, plain and simple. And I was surprised to hear him heaping it on to the coaching staff that least deserved it imho.
 
I was talking to derek about this today.

Alex has NEVER been an asshole in public before. When benched for Kraperneck, he took the benching and trade like a pro. Same when Mahomes was drafted and he was traded here.

I dont blame him for being upset. He gave all he had for this team and had the worst injury I have ever seen on a leg while watching the NFL. He then came back and led the team to a 5-1 record. Was he Brady or Brees spectacular? No, but he never has been. He has always been a dink and dunker type of QB.

But, I also dont blame Rivera. That wasn't his QB. He inherited a broken QB who (no fault to Alex) forced himself in to the starting lineup. He was mediocre and didn't light up the scoreboard.

Both of them have points. Alex has given all and wants to play. He has been nothing but a winner with this team and is being pushed aside for a "maybe" or the next shiny possible QB.
Ron wants to start over with his own choice and not be tied to a broken down older QB who may or may not last a season.

I think with a full offseason to just train and work his leg in a healing fashion he will be back to normal. I don't know what that normal is for a QB his age, but I have faith in him.

I don't want him for $24mil per season though.
 
I have been thinking about this since yesterday. I keep going back and forth between two different points of view.

The first is the one most have taken, which is he's mad at the team and feels disrespected and is trashing the team.

The second is more that he's just capitalizing on his amazing story and is just building up as much drama as he can to make his story even more heroic.

The reality is he knows that football is a business. He knows that no one expected him back and he even said he had his own doubts at times. A team can't wait around and they can't take up a roster spot with a guy that may or may not play.

Unless he's really bitter at the team and is trying to force his way off the team, he definitely could have handled this better. Even if he is just exaggerating or focusing on the difficult parts of his comeback to make him look even better, he could have said things differently. In reality, I think the best time to tell that story is after he's retired or off the team. Doing it while on the team, even if you are just exaggerating or accentuating the worst case scenarios, is just driving a wedge in between himself and the organization unnecessarily. And to me, that is the most disappointing part of this.
 
I said before that the Trent Williams and Dwayne Haskins situations were the last holdover decisions that Ron Rivera needed to get clear of to build this team for the future.

I was wrong. Alex Smith is.

Bruce Allen and Snyder made the decision to trade for Smith and never included their own head coach in the decision and then gave him an outsized contract despite the fact Smith had a year left on his previous deal.

And why was the Smith trade considered 'necessary'?

Because the team totally mishandled the Kirk Cousins situation and felt under pressure to do SOMETHING after Cousins left for Minnesota.

So, it was in effect a rushed decision made on the back of a previous mistake.

Typical Allen and Snyder being the reactive fools they always were.

They were wrong about 'being close', they were foolish to give the 34-35 year old Smith almost $80M in guaranteed money and they were wrong in ignoring Kyle Smith and drafting Dwayne Haskins to be the future after Smith.

But again, it's the LAST bad decision that Ron has to deal with and settle, most likely by cutting Smith and freeing up $14M in cap space.

That amount can go for an extension for Jonathan Allen, Brandon Scherff or to resign Ronald Darby and other contributors from 2020.
 
Don’t get me wrong - I generally agree with all that Bulldog. However, I will mention that it’s very easy to criticize the Smith acquisition after he’s had one of the worst QB injuries ever almost as soon as he gets that huge deal.

I do think they made the mistake of paying him based on that last career year he had. If you looked at his career production all those years prior to that, he was nowhere near as impressive. We have never seen even a glimpse of the guy he was that last season in KC. Maybe if he did not experience the injury, we see him thriving by now. I certainly think he could’ve been a very good QB in this offense for 3-4 years.

I also agree it had the feel of a big splash move to try and immediately bounce back from the Cousins dilemma and to calm fans down.

What also compounded the issue is keeping Jay Gruden when it was clear he wasn’t going to be the guy and was mailing it in, but going ahead and bringing on Smith for a big deal not knowing who the eventual head coach was going to be or if Alex would be a good fit for the next offense! Oh - And then drafting a QB in the 1st round with a lame duck coach.

So stupid.
 
I have a feeling if Smith had stayed healthy, Gruden would still be our HC, or at a minimum the opinions of him and his track record would be vastly different.
 
6-4 when he was hurt and in first place
5-1 when he came back and divisional winners

he is a proven leader and winner. his stats have ALWAYS been mediocre, but the man only has 4 losing seasons in his entire career.

I do not want to pay him the money he is owed now for a risk of maybe, but I can't be that mad at him either. If his leg heals all the way and he doesn't have the cramping he will be good for a team somewhere. Would be interesting to see him with the Pats or 49ers again.
 
JP Finlay just said on his radio show that he has communicated with someone close to Alex and that the context was possibly mistaken. The reporter for GQ that did the story was clueless regarding football, to the point that he did not know what IR was. Alex was just telling the story and that there is no animosity toward the team from Alex or his camp...

fwiw
 
SilentThreat said:
JP Finlay just said on his radio show that he has communicated with someone close to Alex and that the context was possibly mistaken. The reporter for GQ that did the story was clueless regarding football, to the point that he did not know what IR was. Alex was just telling the story and that there is no animosity toward the team from Alex or his camp...

fwiw
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I’m not saying I 100% believe this. I’m still haven’t made up my mind on what is true. But that’s why you don’t do sports articles with non sports outlets. Not that a sports journalist would be any better, (see all the tweets put out trying to find statements that would have caused Smith to trash the team), but it’s still poor judgement to not know how this was going to be interpreted.
 
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