Alex Smith was the subject of a lot of networks’ affections this offseason. The former Comeback Player of the Year auditioned for CBS, FOX, and ESPN. Now that the dust has settled, Smith is joining ESPN.
Smith came back to play for the Washington Football Team last season after suffering a gruesome leg injury in 2018 that caused him to miss the remainder of that season and the entirety of the following season. Rumors swirled that with his college coach, Urban Meyer, taking over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and that team breaking in a rookie QB, that Smith could end up in North Florida for the 2021 season. Those obviously never came to fruition.
ESPN will use Smith across all of its NFL programming this season. Andrew Marchand of The New York Post writes that he isn’t interested in going into broadcasting full-time, so for his rookie year in TV, “Smith will just be dipping his toes in the analyst game as opposed to taking on a full-time role.”
This was not another bidding war victory for Bristol. While the network fought hard to fend off FOX in order to land Robert Griffin III last week, circumstances made it a little easier to get a deal done with Alex Smith.
FOX chose to go with Mark Sanchez to fill its game analyst opening. CBS decided it would not seek to fill the hole left by Rich Gannon’s departure.
