Comments about ‘Saga of Alex Smith: Good things come to those who wait’

12 decent paragraphs and then a bunch of hogwash. Pile on everybody, why don't you Sorenson. How is this article any different from how 9er's fans treated Smith, except you are piling on the fans instead of the other way around? Fans pay YOUR salary, too, my friend, not just the athlete's.

When asked if he has anything to say to his critics,
"No, no I don't. That's not why I play, that's not why I ever played. I don't have anything to say."
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Wow, what a great guy. I was so disappointed with how the SF fans treated him that last year I was saying he should demand a trade and go be successful for some other franchise that will give him stability. I am glad the Niners stuck it out with him, I was one of the very few 49er fans that believed in Alex, of course I am biased since he went to Utah. I knew it was not his fault he struggled early on in his career. Go Alex! Get a Super Bowl ring!

I think it is was pretty obvious why Utah's Alex Smith was the #1 draft choice over Aaron Rogers back in 2004 after watching the games this weekend!

Its a tough business and I am sure Alex Smith went through so much crap the past few years SF. Despite probably wanting to adamantly leave, Harbaugh changed all that and asked Smith. I think because of the way Harbaugh approached Smith and how Smith received Harbaugh, says a lot about both individuals. Most people in Smith's position would have left a long time ago, but Smith stayed and decided to give it a chance and stick it out! That takes some serious willingness, patience, and faith to hang in there and stick out! That just tells me about the character of both Harbaugh and Smith. Unfortunately, even if Smith and the Niners go all the way to win the super bowl, he still won't get any credit; all of it will go to Harbaugh! I don't disagree with that, but without Alex Smith, I'm not so sure SF would be playing in the NFC championship game either.

"Over here, they're calling the two come-from-behind touchdowns 'The Run' and 'The Post,' making comparisons to 'The Pass' from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark back in 1982."

Pretty sure it's called "The Catch" there, Mike, but I'll give it to ya for trying.

AntelopeValleyUte, it's tough, but that's the way it is. Unless you're a record holder named Brady, Manning, Brees or Rodgers, the credit will always go somewhere else. People talk down Trent Dilfer's role as a "game manager" on his way to a Super Bowl like he was some sort of scrub. Most people don't realize he was a Pro Bowler with a bad Buccaneers team just a couple years earlier. Alex is in a good situation, he takes a lot of pressure off his defense, and they take a lot of pressure off him, giving him confidence to do what he needs to do like on Saturday. He should be a successful player for the next 10 years with that recipe.

@AVUte
Harbaugh definitly had a lot to do with the turnaround. Not only Smith but several other team members have blossomed under his style of coaching as well. It took Harbaugh's perception to not only see but to also develop the potential of the players he'd inherited. And in that perception that the fickle niners fans couldn't possibly see Smith was obviously the key element that Harbaugh had to develop in order for the rest of the pieces to begin falling into place. It's good to see the niners back.

Nice job Alex. Article was food up to that team down south mention. No reason for it as the comparison to BYU, the Jazz and Utah hoops have nothing to do with Alex or patience. It was like listening to a person with multiple personalities.

I'm happy for Alex I've been hoping that he would eventually have his moment with the Niners and he proved that patience and perserverance will pay off. Any other player in the NFL would have left long ago.

Mike,
I'm happy for Alex. Yes he did persevere although he was almost and should have been dumped by the 49ers brass.
However, i take exception to you comparing Heaps' situation to Smith's. Heaps had zero coaching to help him. Smith had professional QB coaches and OC's. No such luck at BYU. Smith is lucky to still be in the league. And LUCK is the key ingredient sometimes. Just ask the Indianopolis Colts.

sportzfan:
calm down. you seem hysterical. it is an opinion, not gospel. relax

I can admit that I was wrong when I said he wouldn't be more than a game manager type QB. Aside from the defense, Alex was the biggest reason SF was in it... and won it. He played his best under the pressure of coming from behind twice in the 4th quarter. This is the first 49ers game I have watched where he was actually one of the stars rather than an efficient game manager. Harbaugh has made a huge difference for Smith and I would not be surprised to see him be one of the top 5 QB's in the league consistently if he can stay healthy.
I don't watch a lot of NFL, but that was the best NFL game I have seen in a couple of years.

The nice thing about the 49ers is, with the running game and defense they have, Alex most of the time, doesn't have to come up with huge numbers. They normally play smash-mouth, grind it out football. Alex showed on Saturday that he has the ability to make the plays and his interception rate is amazing but we were used to that at Utah where we were shocked when occasionally threw the int.

I have been a 49er fan since before Alex was born. Happy to see that he is such a big part of the turn-around. Even as a Cougar fan I liked him when he played at Utah. Always a class act. Go get the ring Alex!

Playoff games make for nice lore and catch phrases.

Winning the super bowl cements legendary status.

Two more to go.

Good luck Alex.

Alex has has always been a class act and now he is finally getting his due as the great player he is. Harbaugh and his winning attitude had alot to do with it but give credit where credit is due, Alex kept with it and did not give up.

I love that service/bowling shirt he was wearing with his name on it tooZ:)

From a Comboys fan, I hope he can take the Niners all the way this year.

Go Alex!

@bYuhockey - I guess Steve Young was pretty LUCKY to have sat on the bench for years to learn under Montana, then was LUCKY to have a Ute as a head coach. That's why he was great, right? Didn't think so.

Sometimes great players are stuck in bad situations for a long time. Even during the "bad" years, Smith never got dumped by a team, like Steve Young did. Young was a great QB who was placed in bad situations for YEARS before he got his chance. I am not saying that Smith is as good or is better than Young, I am just saying that he is way better than people gave him credit for. It had nothing to do with luck. He is good and will continue to be so. He is certainly heads and shoulders better than any bYu QB since Young.

Go Alex. You are the epitome of class!!

@bigutefan: "I think it is was pretty obvious why Utah's Alex Smith was the #1 draft choice over Aaron Rogers back in 2004 after watching the games this weekend!'

You feeling well this morning? Rodgers doesn't play defense and the Packer defense was horrible last night. Don't get me wrong, the niner game was one of the best games in payoff history in terms of drama and Q4 heroics. Smith played fantastic, but Rodgers is the better QB and has been for some time. Enjoy the victory, he deserved it and I hope he beats the Giants as well. The Giants D will be a difficult test.

Alex is a good quarterback and hopefully he can continue to improve, but bigutefan, really? You are telling me based upon this past weekend that Alex is better than Aaron. Wow! Aaron Rogers is a premier quarterback in the NFL and hopefully Alex can get there, but he is not even close right now. The 49ers have a great defense and the offense can score, but Alex has to manage the game avoid making mistakes, especially against another great defense like the Giants. Go 49ers!

@bigutefan

Dude, I agree with you that smith is an elite quarterback. Harbaugh has finally given him a system where he can thrive in and develop to his potential. However, Rodgers is the better quarterback. like Pavalova said, the Pack played terrible defense and giving up that hail mary TD before the half was a nail in the coffin. However, even on offense, it wasn't his fault. He overthrew maybe twice, but his receivers dropped passes when they were wide open and gave him no shot. As a Minnesotan actually defending the packers, I've gotta say, Alex is on his way to being at Rodger's level, but he's not there yet. and that's not his fault.

For those of you comparing Smith to Rodgers whether favorably or otherwise, the biggest contributing factor you're not talking about is each teams receiving corp.
Rodgers and Brees have by far the largest group of quality receivers in the NFL which contributes mightily to their success.
So the real question is, if Smith had all that talent to work with, what would his numbers look like and would Harbaugh open things up a bit more (I don't doubt he would).
That being said, there's no way of answering that question which means we simply don't know. For now we have to go from statistics saying Rodgers, Brees and Brady are the class of the league.
Regardless, Alex isn't too far behind!