There’s a reasonable chance that if Alex Smith had simply lied, he’d still be the starting quarterback of the 49ers.
But he said Tuesday he had no regrets about revealing his concussion symptoms, which opened the door for Colin Kaepernick, and the door was subsequently slammed in Smith’s face.
Smith suffered his concussion Nov. 11 against the Rams, when Jo-Lonn Dunbar hit him hard enough to cause blurry vision, but Smith said he had no regrets about telling coaches and trainers about the symptoms.
“No, no, no, not at all,” Smith said, via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. “I mean, we’re all going to be done with this game at some point. We’ve got a lot of life ahead of us. You err on the side of caution with that head stuff.
“There’s no brain transplants that I’ve ever heard of. You only get one. It’s not something to mess around with.”
Smith’s demotion shows how fine a line it can be in a performance business, but his grace in dealing with the situation shows how hard it is to succeed in the business of being a human being.
He admitted it was hard to watch the team win without him after they won so many with him.
“I’m not going to lie about any of that. It’s tough at times, for sure,” he said. “Tough to accept. Tough to watch.
“But we’re in the Super Bowl and it’s been an amazing experience. I love being a part of this. I’ve said this before. It’s bittersweet a little bit, but it’s a great thing to be a part of.”
Smith might not be the best quarterback in the league, but he’s good enough to help many teams, and his leadership and attitude he’s shown in the last two months will lend a maturity to whatever team he plays on next, since this door is effectively closed to him now.