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Alex Smith

Alex Smith on the sidelines in November 2008
San Francisco 49ers — No. 11
Quarterback
Date of birth: May 7, 1984 (1984-05-07) (age 25)
Place of birth: Bremerton, Washington
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Weight: 212 lb (96 kg)
Professional debut
2005 for the San Francisco 49ers
Career history
College: Utah
NFL Draft: 2005 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
Teams: San Francisco 49ers (2005-present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Mountain West P.O.Y. (2004) Fiesta Bowl Offensive Co-MVP (2005)
Selected NFL statistics (through Week 17 of the 2008 NFL season)
TD-INT	19-31
Passing yards	4,679
QB Rating	63.5
Stats at NFL.com

Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984 in Bremerton, Washington, U.S.) is an American football quarterback for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and a former number one overall draft pick.

Early years

Smith is from Bonita, California. He has one brother and two sisters. His father, Douglas D. Smith, is the principal at the high school Alex attended, Helix High School. His uncle is John L. Smith, former head coach for the Michigan State University Spartans’ football team. His second cousin is Texas Rangers first baseman Chris Shelton.

He played football at Helix High School. As a starter during his Junior and Senior years, Smith led his team to a record of 25-1, including two San Diego CIF section championships. He was named to the first-team all-conference and all-county squads in the San Diego CIF system. Smith also earned the conference offensive player of the year twice, and twice won the team MVP for Helix. During his time at Helix, Smith set a school record by throwing for six touchdowns in one game, and recorded the second-highest completion percentage in San Diego CIF history. While at Helix, he played with 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, who was also a finalist for the 2004 award, making it the first time a high school had two finalists at the ceremony.

Smith was president of his senior class in high school, and was also an excellent student who graduated with a 4.4 GPA one sememster early by earning college credits through a program with San Diego State University. He pulled a similar feat in college where he earned enough credits to earn his bachelor's degree in Economics in just two years.¹

In 2006, Smith started the Alex Smith Foundation which assists former foster youth in attaining higher education. The program is currently reaching out to students in the San Diego, CA area.

College career

He played for the Utah Utes and wore number 11. He finished 4th in the voting for the 2004 Heisman Trophy, and was selected as the 2004 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. Smith graduated from the University of Utah with an economics degree in just two years with a 3.71 GPA.

NFL career

At the NFL combine, Smith recorded a 4.7 time in the 40-yard dash, benched 335 pounds and had a 31-inch vertical leap.² He also earned a score of 40 out of 50 on the Wonderlic exam.³

Smith was the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. In July 2005, Smith agreed to a six-year, $49.5 million contract with the 49ers; the contract includes $24 million in guaranteed money.

2005 season

Dealing with an injury and being taken in and out of the lineup by then-head coach Mike Nolan, Smith played in nine games in his rookie season, recording just one touchdown pass while throwing 11 interceptions.

2006 season

After the challenges faced by his rookie campaign, Smith went into the 2006 season with a new offensive coordinator (Norv Turner) and an improved set of offensive weapons around him. The 49ers used their top draft choice on Vernon Davis, a playmaking tight end from Maryland. They also upgraded their offensive backfield, trading underachieving running back Kevan Barlow to the Jets, making Frank Gore the feature back.

Smith also spent the offseason working daily with his new coordinator, wide receivers and tight end, while working to improve his technique and add bulk. The improved offensive cast clearly helped Smith develop in his second year, especially early. Smith's first three games of the season saw him throw three touchdowns, no interceptions, and amass 814 yards. After struggling in Kansas City, he then threw for three touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders, setting a career high. However, the next five games saw Smith resume his growing pains, averaging only 153 yards per game while throwing only six touchdowns and nine interceptions. Despite his difficulty, he led the 49ers on a three-game winning streak in November.

Smith met Joe Montana for the first time on November 5, 2006, during a game against the Vikings. The 49ers wore the throwback jerseys of the 1989 team which Joe Montana and teammates wore. The 49ers went on to win 9-3, upsetting the Minnesota Vikings.

In need of a statement game, the 49ers traveled to Seattle for a Thursday Night Football game against their division rivals. During the broadcast on NFL Network, Cris Collinsworth noted that were he starting an NFL franchise, he had take the Broncos rookie quarterback Jay Cutler before Alex Smith and fellow rookies Matt Leinart and Vince Young - and that Smith was not even close to the others.⁴ Going into the 4th quarter, the 49ers were trailing the Seahawks 7-3, and pulling out a win looked unlikely. Smith however performed brilliantly in the fourth quarter, and drove the 49ers on a long touchdown drive down the field early, taking a narrow 10-7 lead. Late in the quarter, with the same score, Smith struck again - shaking off an almost certain sack, rolling to the left and completing a pass to Frank Gore for a touchdown to give the 49ers a 10 point lead. On the next drive, Smith cemented the victory by leading yet another touchdown drive, and rushing for a touchdown on a naked bootleg. Collinsworth had earlier in the game observed that "Alex Smith is the best I've ever seen him. That drive is the best I saw," and on seeing his touchdown run, commented that that was "What a second-half he has had!".⁵

After losing to the Cardinals the following week, the 49ers final game of the 2006 season was against a Denver Broncos team looking for a playoff berth. In a major upset, the 49ers defeated the Broncos and knocked them out of the playoffs. During the game at INVESCO Field, Smith threw for 194 yards and a touchdown, leading the team to a come from behind victory for the second time in three weeks.

Overall, Smith improved in his second year by throwing as many touchdowns as interceptions. He threw for 16 TDs, 16 interceptions, 2,890 yards and a 74.8 quarterback rating, all improvements over his rookie year, and all well above what would normally be expected of a 22-year-old-quarterback.

2007 season

Smith entered the 2007 season learning under a third offensive coordinator in three seasons. Norv Turner was hired as the head coach by the San Diego Chargers. Jim Hostler, who proved to be a dramatic downgrade, replaced Turner. Hostler's system is a mixture of the offensive system installed by Turner with elements of the West Coast offense installed by Mike McCarthy for the 2005 season. During the offseason, the 49ers added wide receivers Darrell Jackson, Ashley Lelie, and rookie Jason Hill as new offensive weapons for Smith.

In the season opener on Monday Night Football against the Arizona Cardinals, Smith led the 49ers to a 20-17 win in a two-minute comeback. While down 17-13 with less than two-minutes left, Smith drove down the field, highlighted by a 25-yard scramble. After the scramble, he threw a 22 yard pass to Arnaz Battle that was fumbled on the one-yard line, but recovered by a 49er so the ball was placed back on the one-yard line with 26 seconds left. The following play Battle ran an end around for the game-winning touchdown. Smith finished the game 15 for 31 with 126 yards and two rushes for 37 yards.⁶ Had Darrell Jackson not dropped a perfectly thrown pass in the end zone prior to Smith completing the comeback, his numbers would have been even better.

On September 30 in the first quarter of a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Smith injured his right shoulder after getting sacked by Seahawks defensive tackle Rocky Bernard. Smith suffered a grade-three separation and the initial diagnosis was that surgery would not be required. Smith missed the next three games before returning to the 49ers' starting lineup on Sunday, October 28, 2007.

The 49ers did not win a game again until November 25. Among all NFL quarterbacks who qualify for league statistics, only the Jets' Kellen Clemens had a poorer passer rating than Smith (57.2), Smith completed under 50% of his passes, far below the league average of 60%. Smith was at odds with 49ers head coach Mike Nolan over the severity of his injury. Nolan believed that Smith was healthy enough to play while Smith felt that the injury still affected his ability to throw accurately, an account that was supported by players from the Seahawks⁷ . Nolan decided to rest Smith following a loss in that game to the Seahawks on November 12 and start Trent Dilfer to allow Smith's shoulder to recover. Upon further examination following the decision, according to orthopedic surgeon James Andrews, the shoulder did not significantly heal as Andrews thought it would. Smith would not play again in the 2007 season.⁸ On December 11, 2007, Smith was placed on injured reserve to undergo surgery on the shoulder.

2008 season

Smith entered Training Camp competing for the starting quarterback job with Shaun Hill, who won both of the games he started in 2007, before suffering a back injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and J.T. O'Sullivan. Smith will be learning under a fourth different offensive coordinator in four seasons; Jim Hostler was fired and replaced by former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator and St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator/head coach Mike Martz. Unlike the previous three seasons, where offensive continuity was somewhat maintained, Martz's system was completely different. Smith was announced as the 2nd string quarterback for the 49ers' initial preseason game on August 8 against the Oakland Raiders, behind O'Sullivan, who was elevated to starting quarterback partly due to his familiarity with Martz's offense when he was on the bench with the Detroit Lions. Smith threw five of nine for 51 yards. He again started as the second string quarterback in the August 16 preseason game against the Green Bay Packers which the 49ers won 34 to 6. O'Sullivan was starting quarterback against the Chicago Bears on August 21 in the third preseason game, where he performed extremely well, throwing 7 of 8 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. Smith threw 6 of 17 for 83 yards and a touchdown.

On August 22, 49ers head coach Mike Nolan announced⁹ that J. T. O'Sullivan, who had competed with Smith and Hill, would replace Smith as the 49ers' first-string quarterback for Week 1 of the 2008 season. This decision led former NFL coach Jim Mora to call Smith a "bust," and argue that the 49ers should not have drafted him as the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.¹⁰ Suggestions that Nolan and the 49ers never gave Smith the chance to succeed persisted.

On September 10, the 49ers placed Smith on injured reserve after Dr. James Andrews confirmed the team's diagnosis of a broken bone in Smith's shoulder, ¹¹ believed to have been caused by a wire left in his shoulder from the previous surgery, which had sawed through the bone ¹². Regardless, the 49ers' general manager, Scot McCloughan, said that the 49ers expect to release Smith before the 2009 season, when they would owe him a salary of $9,625,000.¹³ After Nolan was fired on October 21, 2008, the 49ers expressed interest in having Smith remain for the 2009 season if he was willing to renegotiate his contract.¹⁴ On March, 10, 2009, the 49ers announced that Alex Smith's contract had been successfully restructured and that he would stay with the team. Smith took a considerable paycut to remain with the 49ers, with whom he is under contract for the next two years.¹⁵

2009 season

After restructuring his new contract with San Francisco, Head Coach Mike Singletary announced that Smith will compete for the Starting Quarterback position against teammate and close friend Shaun Hill.

Career statistics

College

Professional

References

External links

• Alex Smith at ESPN.com