Alex Smith no longer has to dodge the rush of the All-Pro pass coming to him on Sunday. Now, the former NFL quarterback’s biggest pressure is the rush to get his kids to play soccer on time.
It’s a role – the father of football – that Smith may have once taken for granted, as well as his ability to pass on his knowledge of professional football passing into his lineage. But when it all came close to being knocked down by a disastrous, career-threatening injury like the one Smith suffered nearly four years ago, every soccer kick, soccer pitch, or path on the field he’s running with his kids has grown every day. pond.
“My greatest excitement is being able to play football or catch up with my kids and chase them around,” says Smith, who was selected first in the 2005 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. “There was a long time when I thought it was all over. For me, this is the most important part of my life.”
Since he was named the 2020 NFL Player of the Year with the now Washington captains, the story of his improbable and inspiring comeback has drawn many fans and pundits who have demanded that the award be permanently named Smith.
Alex Smith remained focused under the pressure of changing life
And their argument is valid, given when both the shin and fibula were cut after an embarrassing showdown against the Tennessee Titans on November 18, 2018, many were unsure if the three-time Pro Bowler could return to football, including Smith.
In addition to the gruesome injury that went viral online, the leg got infected, which now means amputation is a real possibility, not to mention football. Smith admits that maintaining focus during this challenge was as mentally brutal as physical therapy.
Eliminating strikers has been part of the job during Smith’s 14 seasons with the 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Washington. Now Smith had to learn to walk again. In contrast to seeing this rehab as a long road with no end in sight, Smith maintained his focus throughout the challenge as a multi-step process. It’s a lesson Smith now applies to his daily routine.
“It was amazing that I couldn’t stand on my own feet when I said I wanted to play football again,” says Smith, who has also become an investor in nutrition brand UCANN. “And I was so horrified when I said that, because the odds were huge that I was going to fail. But my focus has always been on that next little achievement. And I think that mindset now transfers to life, whether you’re recovering from an injury or setting goals.”
Getting out of the wheelchair was step 1, then standing up, followed by actually taking the first step. He kept adding this process until Smith finally had his cleats on and onto the football field, about 23 months later.
Match day again for Alex Smith
And while he was blasted to turf by the NFL’s Top Defensive Player twice, wasn’t on QB’s wish list, taking a sack of Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and running off the field on Oct. Smith.
“I actually went through that last milestone in front of everyone,” Smith recalls. “It was so scary and exhilarating at the same time. But when Aaron approached me, it was like taking the tape off – I was able to shed all the weight I was carrying since that moment.”
Now, in addition to participating in sports with his three children as well as occasionally tagging with his wife for a workout session, Smith works as an NFL analyst with ESPN, and can be found sharing his story on the Ted Talks circuit. The UCANN ambassador shares some of his tips with Muscle & Fitness on how staying physically and mentally fit helped him stay focused during his rehabilitation.
Finding a new perspective on fitness – physical and mental
I’ve always taken my fitness seriously – I’ve built my career by keeping my body in great shape. Being a quarterback, I was fortunate to have been able to train for a lifetime – I didn’t need to squat 700lbs to be a better quarterback, but I did need to be able to do a little bit of everything well.
Then when I broke my leg, I went from being incredibly aggressive to doing what I wanted to do until suddenly I had serious doubts and fears about whether I’d ever be able to do any of it again—and for so long, amputation wasn’t on the table. Even as I was trying to recover, this was looming over my head.
But she helped me chase football again, even when a lot of people were having a hard time figuring out why I did it. For me, it was about whether I could find a way to play professional football again without restrictions, especially mentally.
And how terrifying it is, I’m so grateful I saw it through. When you’ve had something taken away from you like this for so long, I’m more grateful than ever just to be able to get up and move on. I find myself saying yes to everything, whether it’s an activity I’ve done all my life to play with my kids or play sports with my wife. I will take this opportunity to do anything and everything.
Short steps to a long goal
There wasn’t a particular moment where I said, “Oh, I can do this.” To be honest, when I started, I never actually thought it would happen.
It took a lot of steps. At one point I couldn’t stand it and yet I was talking about trying to play soccer – it was crazy! There was talk of cutting my leg, and I was talking about going back and playing professional football.
I always kept everything short-sighted. When I was in a wheelchair, the goal was to be able to stand. I really tried to take the next step every time, literally and figuratively. I have to stand on my feet, then I can stand on my two legs. I did everything I could to do that. And once I finally got there, it was like that, so what? I kept my head low and focused only on making these small gains.
There were all these little milestones along the way, and then all of a sudden, I got to the point where I hook up the cleats and get into the stadium. Then I could have stepped back and thrown. And if I do it long enough, I can gain more confidence.
When it was over, looking back, doing it this way was a lifesaver. I really don’t think I could have done that if I had taken a different approach or way of thinking.
Embrace the last step towards victory
The last step for me was to come back again, on live TV in front of the whole country. As back players, we’re not dealt with in practice, and there was no pre-season that year because of COVID, so I literally passed that finale in front of everyone. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time. My last step was done by Aaron Donald. That game was really when I lost all the weight I was carrying, and I really felt like I could do it.
It was a crazy ride, we ended up winning five of the six games I started, and that helped us make the playoffs. But this remedy was when I got rid of everything mentally.
If it works for some, UCAN stays focused too
UCAN was a product I used for the back half of my career. I started using it on match day, then on training days. I needed a source of energy without sugar to help me maintain focus without crashing. I loved intermittent fasting for the same reason: I loved the focus it gave me the productivity it gave me. I probably use it more now that I’m retired, to get me out the door in the morning with my kids.
I get exposed to things all the time that I don’t know anything about, it’s crazy. This partnership was a perfect fit, the easiest for me ever. I’ve used it throughout my recovery, and now that I’m retired, I still use it. I don’t think enough people know about it yet, I’m trying to get the word out.
Focus can mean the difference between TD and INT
You can’t even put it down in seconds – it’s a fraction of how a loss of focus can affect a play. Often times as a midfielder you anticipate everything, and what the defense will do and face. There’s a lot of processing going on, and I don’t care how talented you are in the NFL, as a quarterback, the first thing you have to be able to do is process.
And you’re processing hundreds of factors at once – all possible variations you can then get all your different counters to them. And it all happens quickly, and then after that. What happens if the defense moves? Or if your left guard misses a block? Now you have literally thousands of things to process at once. So the ability to focus is an absolute priority. It is a must. You can be big, fast, and powerful as much as you want, but if you can’t tackle, there’s no way you can play at the NFL level, sure.
