© Matt Kartozian | 2018 Sep 9
Alex Smith has been through a lot. The former 49ers quarterback nearly lost his leg, and his life, after a brutal injury while playing with Washington in 2018, one that he’s still recovering from.
An incident like that puts things in perspective, like in 2012 when Smith was replaced by Colin Kaepernick as the starting quarterback of the 49ers. Smith was asked about that on Friday when he joined “The Dan LeBatard with Stugotz,” and for the first time commented publicly on Kap still not having an NFL job.
“It was hard to kind of see that trajectory because he was playing so good, and doing things nobody had done,” Smith said regarding how good he thought Kaepernick could be. “I think he still holds the single-game rushing record for a quarterback. It was crazy.
“So with that said, it was so absurd — I think equally — that it was only a few years later when you’re like, ‘This guy doesn’t have a job.’ That was hard to imagine. It still is, a guy with his ability and his trajectory that all of a sudden isn’t playing.”
Kaepernick hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2016, since he concluded his final season in San Francisco with a 90.7 quarterback rating. In November 2017, he filed a grievance against the NFL and its owners, accusing them of colluding to keep him out of the league due to his protests of racial injustice during the national anthem. Kaepernick withdrew the grievance in February 2019 after reaching a confidential settlement with the NFL.