2012-GameRelease-Divisional

The 49ers have stood by Smith, even though they came close to tossing him aside several times.
Nolan pressed him into action with a bad supporting cast almost immediately, then got frustrated with him
for not developing quickly enough. The coach publicly questioned his toughness, wondering why he
wouldn't play through a separated shoulder that would require several surgeries.
Singletary never trusted Smith's ability to throw, and instead ran a simple, run-oriented offense. He once
referred to Smith as "meek," a comment that wasn't malicious but was less than a ringing endorsement of
the quarterback's leadership skills.
Said Jed York, 49ers chief executive, of Smith: "We had to look at it and say, 'We have somebody here
that knows the team, knows the offense, knows the system. We just haven't done a good enough job of
putting him in a stable situation where he can be successful.' A lot of that are failures I would put on the
organization, not Alex."
Harbaugh was hired in January 2011, a few months before the lockout. He soon announced that Smith
was his quarterback, even though there was widespread speculation that the 49ers might sign Matt
Hasselbeck. Then came the lockout, and that helped Smith in at least two significant ways:
First, with no free-agency period (until one ultimately came in late July), the 49ers couldn't sign another
veteran quarterback, even if they wanted to, and no other teams could make a play for Smith.
More important, Smith was among the few 49ers who had Harbaugh's playbook — he got a copy during
the brief lifting of the lockout — so he was able to conduct "Camp Alex" at San Jose State, run through
the plays with his teammates, and show his ability to lead. He paid for players to come to the camp, and
even loaned them his car when necessary. The team bonded.
That confidence in Smith grew throughout last season, as the team went from 6-10 in 2010 to 13-3. After
the offense ground to a halt in the conference title game against the Giants — when 49ers receivers
totaled one catch for four yards — San Francisco invested in its receiving corps, including adding free
agents Mario Manningham and Randy Moss.
The 49ers looked at Peyton Manning this off-season, although Harbaugh insists they only were
evaluating him and were determined to stick with Smith. Regardless, because of the way Smith played
last season, the bar would have been set much higher for Manning in San Francisco than it was replacing
Tim Tebow in Denver.
San Francisco almost blew it with Smith. Scot McCloughan, general manager of the 49ers when they
drafted Smith, was warned in 2005 by friend and quarterback guru Mike Holmgren to take it slow with
Smith, not to rush him onto the field. But the 49ers did.
"I told Scot, 'There will be a learning curve for him. You know it. I know it. But the owner has to know it.
The media has to know it. Everybody has to know it,'" Holmgren recalled in an interview with The Times in
2011.
Instead, Smith was the starter by Week 5, and in his debut had four interceptions, was sacked five times
and posted an 8.5 passer rating. The 49ers would finish last in the league in passing yards for the first
time in club history.
"He was destined to fail," Holmgren said.
For Smith, that seems like three careers ago. He's not Young or Joe Montana, but he's a seasoned leader
of a 4-1 team that rolled up a franchise-record 621 yards of offense last Sunday and has beaten its last
two opponents — the Jets and Bills — by a combined 79-3.
He's a quarterback who can open the NLDS with a fastball in the dirt and still get a standing ovation.