8 years since his last NFL starting gig, Seahawks’ evolved Geno Smith faces Russell Wilson

It’s been so long since Geno Smith was a full-time starter in the NFL, Barack Obama was president.

TikTok hadn’t been invented.

Heck, the Kansas City Royals were in the World Series. Yes, that actually happened.

The Seahawks won the Super Bowl the year Smith last was a full-time starter.

If that feels like a looooooooong time ago, it was. Eight years ago. In 2014 Smith was starting for the New York Jets, in his second league season.

And not since.

Elias Sports Bureau says it’s the longest time between opening-game NFL starts since 1971. Seahawks 70-year-old coach Pete Carroll was playing college football then, at Pacific.

“I understand that there has been a gap. But I’ve never lost confidence in my ability or the things that I can do on the field,” Smith said Friday while wearing a gray T-shirt with the words “We Believe” in Seahawks colors printed on the front.

Monday night, the evolved, matured 31-year-old veteran will become the first quarterback besides Russell Wilson to start a Seahawks season opener since 2011. Smith’s and Seattle’s opponent at Lumen Field: Wilson and his new Denver Broncos.

Smith was Wilson’s backup the last three seasons.

He’s been a backup for the Jets, Giants, Chargers and Seahawks since he last held a starting job.

“My first two years I had some really great games and put a lot of great things on tape,” Smith said. “But I was able to grow over that course of that time, just being with Eli Manning and Philip Rivers and then obviously being here with Russell. All three of them are Hall of Fame quarterbacks, in my opinion.

“And being in the room with those guys and just learning football, being in different football systems, being around different coordinators, I was able to gain a ton of knowledge.”

Smith beat out Drew Lock in a sputtering competition during Seahawks training camp last month. Lock did not get a chance with the starting offense until deep into August. Then he tested positive for COVID-19 the day he got his first chance with the ones.

Lock showed brilliant flashes in two preseason games, but he also turned the ball over four times. Smith didn’t commit a single turnover in three preseason starts.

That’s the reason he’s starting Monday night against Lock’s former Broncos, instead of Lock.

That’s what Smith says is the biggest difference between the Jets’ number 7 and the Seahawks’ number 7.

“The difference now is my focus on maintaining the football, making sure I’m protecting the football,” he said. “Back then when I was on the Jets, I felt like I would have a good game and a not-so good game. It was very inconsistent. And I think I was able to find some type of consistency in my game and I think that started with my feet, my base in the pocket.

“Obviously, getting stronger just over the course of my career and just growing as a man. And then just protecting the football. I’ve seen a bunch of football. I know what I’m looking at. I’m the veteran guy in the room now, so I’m not just the young kid that I was when I first got into the league.”

Why Pete Carroll chose Smith

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says the 25-year-old Lock has “some gunslinger in him.”

Carroll would rather not have gunslingers at quarterback. He wants protectors.

So it’s the safer, older, wiser Smith over the more dynamic — and potentially more damaging — Lock. At least for now.

Both Carroll and general manager John Schneider have said in the last two weeks Seattle’s quarterback competition continues.

Smith will continue to start in week two at San Francisco and beyond, if he takes care of the ball.

It’s not exactly Wilson-esque: Don’t be so much a hero, but a helper. Not so much win games, don’t lose them.

Yes, this is a new era. For the Seahawks. And for Smith.

“For me personally, I think it was just me pressing back then,” he said of his 34 interceptions and 16 fumbles in 29 games his first two seasons starting for the Jets. “In college, you do get a ton of opportunities. You can play up to 90 plays in a college game whereas in the league, it’s only about 60-70. And so, you just really understand that in the NFL, most games are actually more lost than won. You can see where turnovers and not being great in situations can lead to not getting wins.

“I think the maturity came with understanding that I don’t have to make every play. It takes all 11 on the field, and you don’t have to play ‘hero ball.’ You can just out there and play the game and let the game come to you.”

He didn’t learn that from Wilson.

Wilson often won Seahawks games almost by himself with almost zero pass protection in some seasons. He became the winningest quarterback in NFL history over the first eight seasons of a career.

But Smith said he learned a lot more from Wilson.

Geno Smith appreciates Russell Wilson

“My time here with Russ was awesome. I really got to know him a lot. I got to know his family. He got to know mine,” Smith said.

“And one thing I would say I took from him is just his professionalism, the way he approached every single day, his competitive fire. You know just the type of person he is on and off the field. I mean there is a lot of outstanding things you can say about him.

“I really appreciated the time we spent together competing. We competed a bunch. You know whether it was in the classroom, weight room, on the field, and I think that made me better.”

Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said he appreciates Smith’s even-keeled demeanor.

“I think his consistent attitude. He comes in there every single day ready to work. He’s a true professional in terms of, there will be the ups and downs of the day, just like there are the ups and downs of the week and the ups and downs within the game,” Waldron said.

“Geno’s ability to stay levelheaded and really embrace, ‘What’s the next thing that I have to do? What’s the next task at hand?’”

This week’s task is to beat Wilson in what would be perhaps the most satisfying opening win in Seahawks history. That’s given how much Wilson accomplished in Seattle, then how he left, orchestrating a trade to the Broncos in March.

Smith said he’s of course going to be thinking about facing Wilson in his career restart. He can’t help but hear about it. Boos will likely to be cascading from Lumen Field’s cantilever roofs back down onto Wilson and the Broncos Monday night. Carroll has all but dared Seahawks fans to boo Wilson.

“You can’t block that out. That would be a little naive to say that,” Smith said. “I do understand everything that is going on around us. Russell was the man here for a while, and I know there will be emotions on both sides. But I’m not caught up in that. I’m just focused on taking care of business.”

His business was mostly out of operation from 2015 until last November. Eight years of preparing each week as if he might start. Eight years of getting zero snaps in practice and knowing he won’t.

The only five starts Smith had over seven years was as an injury fill-in. That included going 1-2 last season into November after Wilson broke his finger, had surgery and missed games for the first time in his career. In 2019 with Seattle Smith never took a single snap; Wilson took all of them.

How did Smith stay motivated that his second chance was coming? Eventually? Maybe?

“The thing that kept me motivated was seeing myself do well, just seeing myself make plays out there on the field,” he said. “Then, I’ve had a ton of great coaches who have continued to let me know that I’m capable.

“I’ve had defensive coordinators come up to me before games and after games and say, ‘When you get your shot, you are going to be ready.’ That was recently, when I was here.

“I’m physically ready. I’m mentally ready. And no matter what, I am good enough.

“I do know that, for sure.”