From ugly Jets end to Seahawks’ man: Geno Smith’s long road back to being an NFL starter

Seven years after a teammate sucker-punched him from behind inside a locker room to end his time as a starter in New York, Geno Smith is back.

Back as a full-time NFL starter.

The 31-year-old Smith has made five starts in the last seven seasons while with four different teams. He will begin this season and restart his career as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback.

Friday night, coach Pete Carroll named Smith the successor to the traded Russell Wilson, whom Smith backed up the last three years.

Smith beat out Drew Lock for the job. His first game: against Wilson and the Denver Broncos Sept. 12 at Lumen Field.

Smith smiled at the news late Friday night, a decision that validated his seven years of stick-to-it-ness.

“You know, if it never happened, I would have been satisfied with my career. I’ve always done my best,” Smith said after Seattle’s loss at Dallas in the preseason finale he started, though he played for only one, successful series. “Sometimes, God doesn’t put things in the cards for you.

“I was always prepared. I was always ready and always gave everything I had to my teammates. I believe that because I continued to strive and continued to get better, the opportunity has arose.”

Geno Smith’s long path

Sources told the New York Post in August 2015 reserve Jets linebacker IK Enemkpali was irate at Smith, New York’s two-year starter from the opener of his rookie season after lighting up college football at West Virginia, for allegedly failing to pay back $600. Enemkpali had reportedly given Smith that amount for travel to a football camp for kids Enemkpali was putting on the previous month in his hometown, Pflugerville, Texas.

After the punch, Smith started only one more game for the Jets in two more seasons with them. He started once for the Giants, at the end of Eli Manning’s career, in 2017. He was a backup with the Chargers, mopping up three games in 2018.

Seattle signed him to backup Wilson in 2019. He never got in a game that year.

He got just one cameo in 2020 behind Wilson. Last season, Smith went 1-2 for the Seahawks when Wilson finally got hurt and missed games for the first time in his 10-year career.

After the Seahawks’ final game of last season, in January, Smith was arrested by the Washington State Patrol for allegedly driving 96 mph in a 60-mph zone in suburban Bellevue. WSP arrested him for suspicion of driving under the influence, hours after he and the Seahawks returned from their win at Arizona. He was briefly jailed then released on $1,000 bail seven hours after his arrest.

Into this summer, the King County prosecutor’s office was awaiting blood-test results from the night in question to come back from the State Patrol Crime Lab before making a charging decision. The lab reportedly has been working through a long backlog of cases.

In June, Smith said: “Those things will be worked out, but I’m extremely confident in all of those things. Those things, they have a timeline, and they have to be worked out.

“But I don’t see anything, any problems” for his availability during this season.

Geno Smith on winning Seahawks job

How satisfying is it to have prepared for seven years as if he was going to play yet almost never playing, to now being a full-time NFL starter again for the first time since the year the Seahawks won the Super Bowl?

Yeah, it’s been a minute. With more valleys than peaks.

“Satisfaction is not really the word for me here,” he said. “I’m grateful. But at the same time, I’m preparing to go out there and win games.

“Just gratefulness. Thankfulness.”

The best thing he did to win Carroll’s favor and the job was not turn the ball over. Lock did that four times in two preseason games. Smith didn’t have one giveaway while starting all three preseason games.

He has 34 touchdowns with 37 interceptions in his regular-season career, in which he’s 13-21 as a starter.

“That’s the number one way to lose games in the NFL, is not protecting the football. Earlier in my career, I had some issues with that,” Smith said. “I learned very quickly that the quarterback’s main job is to protect the football as well as scoring points, being dynamic and all those things.

“I really think when I came here, that I turned the corner in terms of protection of the football. Coach preaches it every single day. It’s the motto of the team. The organization is all about the ball.”

Smith’s edge over Drew Lock

He didn’t challenge defenses as often and as effectively as Lock did in training camp and preseason games. He didn’t throw for any touchdown passes. Lock threw three.

But Smith is the safer, known choice for Carroll, the coach who seeks risk aversion in his quarterbacks.

Lock had excellent plays this month. But he has before. He also has a four-year penchant for crushing mistakes.

That’s a risk Carroll doesn’t see in Smith.

“The thing I showed the most, and I try to continue to do this, is to make the right reads, have the right footwork, make the right run checks and make sure there are no negatives on my grade sheet,” Smith said. “That’s what I play for. I pride myself on making sure guys are in the right position and being that coordinator on the field.

“Then when the plays come, make the plays. I believe in my ability. I know I can make a ton of plays out there with my arm and my legs. It’s about moving the chains and scoring points. We have to do that first and foremost.”

Lock missing a week and a start against Chicago in the second preseason game helped set him further back from Smith than he already was. Smith knows offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s system. He’s worked with receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for years longer than Lock has.

Smith was the starter from the first offseason practices in May through all but one day last week in training camp. That was the day Lock tested positive for COVID-19. He went into a five-day quarantine that ended last Sunday, Aug. 21.

“So it’s just a matter of he just didn’t quite have enough time to beat out a guy who knew exactly what he was doing,” Carroll said, “and who just stayed at it and really just won the job because of his consistency and, really, his performance.”

Carroll said Smith “knows what he’s doing.”

“Geno, he knows our stuff and he does really well and he understands it and he can manage everything that we’re doing. And he’s good about the football,” the coach said.

“He’ll give us the best chance to play great football right off the bat.”