Alex Smith is a champion worth celebrating

Somewhere along the way, Alex Smith became associated with a generic brand.

Somewhere between being the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick in 2005 and the Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback in 2016, Smith was shoved aside and labeled boring. All of this, of course, an opinion expressed broadly but not everywhere. Where this opinion is shared, it is based solely on how Alex Smith throws a football.

If Smith suddenly started throwing beautiful, vertical 20-plus-yard passes on the regular, he would still be the same man. He would still be a father of three and husband to Elizabeth. He would still be the fun dad who dresses up with his family for every Halloween. He would still be a dedicated member of society giving back to people through his Alex Smith Foundation.

What more can anyone possibly ask for from a human being? So many will answer that question with, “Be a better quarterback” as if Smith ever had any control over what natural talent he was given? And don’t think for a second that Smith has not maximized his gifts.

Smith is a hard worker. He’s a giver. He’s made a career on not making mistakes and uses that platform for the greater good.

In a story written by Sean Keeler in October 2014, leading up to Smith’s first game back in San Francisco since leaving the Niners for Kansas City, there is an important excerpt:

“A San Diego native, Smith still has strong ties to the West Coast, where his Alex Smith Foundation is based. The foundation, whose mission is to help foster youth through education, housing, mentoring, internships, jobs and advocacy, reportedly raised $839,244 from 2008-10, according to a Boston Globe report, with 91 percent of its proceeds going back into the charity—one of the most generous ratios of return for any foundation started by an athlete in North America.”

One of the most generous ratios of return for any foundation started by an athlete in North America. There’s a statistic for you to use in quantifying Smith.

Smith has learned to endure throughout his life. Back in 2008, his best friend, David Edwards, committed suicide. In that same year, a botched shoulder surgery almost ruined his career. The surgeon had left a wire in his shoulder, and when he threw a pass, it cut through the bone, per Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star. Smith’s arm strength would never be the same.

The 32-year-old does have solid career statistics, if you’re into that kind of thing: 25,855 yards, 149 touchdowns, 85 interceptions. Aesthetically, the least-boring moment of Smith’s career came on January 14, 2012, against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisional playoffs at San Francisco. With a little over two minutes left in the fourth quarter and Smith’s 49ers down 24-23, Smith ran a bootleg 28 yards for the touchdown.

Smith led the Niners to a 13-3 record that season. How was Smith rewarded? Halfway through the following season, he got benched following a concussion. That offseason, he was traded because San Francisco had a decidedly less boring quarterback in Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick was more athletic, rare, something the NFL hadn’t quite seen before. Yet again, Smith found himself brushed to the side.

In essence, here’s the only testimony that truly matters: those who know Smith personally never have a bad thing to say about him. Kevin Clark of The Ringer wrote a tremendous story about Alex Smith earlier this season that peeled back the public image of Smith. Clark revealed that Smith is the Chiefs’ “culture curator.” An excerpt:

“[Chase] Daniel said Smith has so much time to consume culture because he’s not on social media. (Smith joked that he constantly makes fun of fellow teammates who spend time on Snapchat, while they make fun of him for not being on it.) ‘He’s super well-rounded and so cerebral and so smart that it actually makes you feel a little bit dumb,’ Daniel said. ‘Because you feel like you don’t have time to see what’s going on in Europe.’

In a macro football sense, Smith remains largely undercut. Why are legions making it seem like playing the game he loves at the highest level consistently for 11 years isn’t something to be celebrated? Why is there a systematic shrinking of this person down to his numbers and (rare) mistakes rather than wondering about all that he’s experienced and learned in this league, surrounded by so many different people?

Forget about the debate almost constantly echoing across our country with a common question at the heart of it: “Would you want so-and-so as your team’s quarterback?” That question has followed Smith around during his 11-year career. Between the white lines, his track record would suggest a resounding yes. In the prism of life?

Don’t bother asking that question.

We’d all be served well to have a dinner with Smith and his family, his friends, to talk about what’s going on in Europe, what television shows I should watch or what books I should read. We we all be best served to do it, all without mentioning the word ‘football’ once.