Former 49ers QB Alex Smith destroys ESPN co-hosts to their faces

Former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith spared no one’s feelings on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” when asked what he thought about recently retired Tom Brady’s comments on the league.

Last week, the seven-time Super Bowl champ made an appearance on the “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” and he was clear about where he thinks the NFL stands. “I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL,” Brady said. “I don’t see the excellence that I saw in the past.”

“I don’t think the coaching is as good as it was,” he added. “I don’t think the development of the young players is as good as it was. The rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game. I just think the product, in my opinion, is less than what it’s been.”

On Sunday, Smith was asked on ESPN if he had a rejoinder to Brady’s comments.

“He hasn’t been retired that long. He was just playing. He just won a Super Bowl in the current game,” Smith exclaimed, referring to 2020 Super Bowl victory with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “Is he discounting that one?”

Then, after a perfunctory pre-apology to his co-hosts, former Jets head coach Rex Ryan and Patriots stars Randy Moss and Tedy Bruschi, Smith launched into his unfiltered feelings about New England.

“He played in the most uncompetitive division, I think, in NFL history,” Smith said. “I mean, you come out of training camp in the biggest cupcake division, you gotta take it to the playoffs right away.”

The assessment was met with chortles of disagreement from former Pats Moss and Bruschi, as well as Ryan, who coached an AFC East division rival.

“I completely disagree with this,” Smith continued as Ryan pulled a face. “I know he’s referencing the rule changes over the middle to the receiver, but in my opinion I think the game has gotten better. There’s more parity across the league. Quarterback play is at an all-time high, I think, across the league. You’ve got the best athletes playing the position. We didn’t have this 30, 40 years ago.”

Although Smith’s time in San Francisco ended amid some animosity from 49ers fans, a lot has changed since 2013. Smith suffered a horrific compound fracture to his leg in 2018, requiring almost 20 surgeries and skin grafts to save the limb. Remarkably, he returned to the field in 2020, but he opted to retire the next year. He was hired a few months later by ESPN as an NFL analyst. Since then, he’s been a relatively popular commentator and has worked his way back into the good graces of 49ers fans. 

And this latest barb at the Patriots certainly won’t hurt his popularity among Niner nation.