Geno Smith’s career was almost completely thrown off the rails in 2015, when an altercation with then-New York Jets teammate IK Enemkpali led to him being punched and having his jaw broken. The altercation was allegedly over $600; the quarterback hadn’t paid the linebacker. Despite being the victim of the situation, some in the media called Smith’s leadership into question for not having paid the money he reportedly owed.
In his absence, Ryan Fitzpatrick set the franchise record for most touchdown passes in a single season, and Smith lost the starting job.
A year later, speaking with ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Geno Smith had this to say of the incident:
“Every day I’m pissed off until I get my job back,” he said. “Until I’m a starting quarterback, I’m pissed off every day. That’s my mentality, that’s my competitive nature. I want to win so badly, deep inside of me. I’m not pissed off at anyone, but I do believe I’m a starting quarterback in this league, and I believe I can do great things.”
“When I look back on this when I’m 40, 50 years old, I’ll ask myself, ‘What time in my life made me a man?’ I think this was that time in my life,” he told Cimini. “It was so easy to say, ‘Hey, this is not my fault. I’m the victim here, and this guy should be going to jail.’ Instead, I manned up. I owned it. I took responsibility for whatever actions I had in that altercation, and I chose to let that fuel me to become a better man and a better player.”
While Smith’s career hasn’t yet led to championships, he has indeed turned around his career from the lows of 2015 and 2016. After poor stints with the Giants and Chargers, he found new life with the Seattle Seahawks between 2019 and 2024.
In 2022, he was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the NFL completion percentage leader. He was a Pro Bowler in 2022 and 2023. His one-year stint with the Raiders was a disappointment, but he has had over a decade of action as a starter.
He’s no Tom Brady, but he has done better than most.
Back To Where It All Started For Geno Smith
It’s going full circle for Geno Smith, as this Tuesday, the New York Jets decided to trade for a sixth-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for him and a seventh-round pick. And he could conceivably take over the starting position, too, as the Jets target in the 2026 NFL Draft, Oregon’s Dante Moore, has decided to remain in college for one more season rather than risk having to play for one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the league.
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