Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith had the best season of his career in 2022. After replacing Russell Wilson, who went to the Denver Broncos, Smith managed to make it to the playoffs with the Seahawks. He also won the Comeback Player of the Year trophy. And Geno Smith called attention to a very serious subject this week: Mental Health.
As May is the Mental Health Awareness Month, Geno Smith used his time with the media after the first day of the Seahawks’ OTAs to speak on the subject. He mentioned his own path in the NFL as proof that you can go through difficult times. Check out what he said:
“I think mental health is very important to everybody, not to just athletes, but to the entire world. Obviously, there's a ton of stress that everyone's under and people cope with them in many different ways. And so, I think the more that we can just talk about it, shed light on mental health, I think it creates this safe place for people where they feel like they can be vulnerable and can express themselves so that they can get better.
The cool part is that people got to see my story. They got to see me go through the hard stuff. And then obviously to get some success later in my career and I know a lot of people want to hear about what was my mental state throughout that.”
Geno Smith
Smith was drafted in 2013, with the overall 39th pick, in the second round, out of West Virginia. His first team on the NFL was the New York Jets, where he played for four seasons. In 2017, he stayed in New York, but changed the uniform, playing for one year with the Giants. Then another season with the Chargers, in Los Angeles, in 2018.
In 2019 he didn’t play a single game, despite the fact he was already a Seattle Seahawks player. His debut in Seattle was not until 2020 but he only played one game. After other four games in 2021, he played a whole season in 2022 for the first time since his rookie year. And his stats earned him a contract renewal.
So far in his 10-year career in the NFL, he has 62 games. He’s completed 991 passes out of 1,578 attempts and sums 11,199 yards, 64 touchdowns and 48 interceptions. Running with the ball he has 1,067 yards in 226 carries and other nine TDs. He has 12 fumbles in his career.
