Alez Smith May Never Play Again

Alex Smith completed his incredible NFL comeback story this fall. The veteran quarterback volition permit that serve as the cap to his playing career.

Smith announced on Monday via Instagram that he was retiring from the NFL after 16 years in the league.

The annunciation comes just two months after Smith, 36, was named the NFL'south Comeback Player of the Year for 2020 for his return to action with the Washington Football Team. Afterwards suffering a chemical compound fracture to his right tibia and fibula in a November 2018 game against the Houston Texans, Smith underwent 17 surgeries and saturday out the entire 2019 season. He also developed sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication from an infection, and had to wear a brace to gainsay his driblet pes.

"2 years agone I was stuck in a wheelchair, staring down at my mangled leg, wondering if I would always be able to go on a walk once more or play with my kids in the yard," Smith said in a video. " ... Simply football wouldn't allow me give upwardly. Considering, no, this isn't simply a game. It'southward non just what happens between those white lines on a Sunday afternoon. Information technology's about the challenges and the commitment they crave. Information technology's about how hard and how far you can push yourself. Information technology's most the bond between those 53 guys in the locker room and everybody else in the system. It'due south about fully committing yourself to something bigger."

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After continuing his recovery during the early portion of final flavor, Smith stepped in for Washington and started half-dozen games, helping atomic number 82 the style to an NFC Due east title while compiling a 5-one record and throwing for 1,582 yards.

"Even though I've got plenty of snaps left in me, after 16 years of giving this game everything I've got, I can't wait to run across what else is possible," he said in a video posted on his Instagram business relationship. "Simply outset, I'm going to take a little time to enjoy a few of those walks with my wife. And my kids have no thought what's coming for them in the backyard."

The No. 1 overall choice in the 2005 NFL typhoon out of Utah, Smith was compared throughout his career to Light-green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the future iii-time NFL MVP whom the San Francisco 49ers bypassed with the acme selection. Earlier the 2013 flavor, Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, with whom he would earn three Pro Bowl nods. Just when the Chiefs selected Patrick Mahomes in 2017, Smith would remain started for just i more yr earlier being traded to Washington.

Smith was released past Washington in March. Jacksonville Jaguars motorcoach Urban Meyer, who coached Smith at Utah, said he was interested in having the veteran join the squad equally a backup. Smith confirmed Monday he visited Jacksonville and considered signing with the Jaguars.

"I wanted him here," Meyer said on The Michael Irvin Podcast prior to Smith's retirement declaration. "You know, we talked to him about joining (the team). He's had a tough injury. And I would tell people this when people didn't know how tough he was, he'south one of the toughest cats I've ever been effectually."

Follow Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2021/04/19/alex-smith-retires-nfl-comeback-leg-injury-washington-quarterback/7286275002/

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