Retiring Soon? Nah! Geno Smith's Goal is to Play Until He's 43

The former West Virginia quarterback has a pretty lofty goal that he hopes to reach.

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

NFL teams waited way too long to give former West Virginia starting quarterback Geno Smith a second shot at starting in the league.

You'll see former first and second-round picks get opportunity after opportunity, and immediately. For Smith, that wasn't the case at all. After a not-so-great stint with the New York Jets, Smith had to pay his dues as a backup to the likes of Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Russell Wilson spanning over eight seasons.

Finally, in 2022, he was awarded that second opportunity and has gone on to do some really good things for the Seahawks, even breaking a handful of records along the way. In 44 starts with the Seahawks, Smith has thrown for 10.626 yards and 63 touchdowns to just 27 interceptions, owning a 22-20 record.

Now that Smith has a taste of what it's like to be the guy for an NFL franchise, he doesn't want to give it up anytime soon. So, no, retirement is not expected to happen in the next couple of years.

“My goal is to play 20 years,” Smith told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “My idol Kobe Bryant [and] another idol of mine, Tom Brady, they both were able to play 20 years. So, you know, that’s something I’m chasing. Honestly, I really feel like I can. A lot of that is genetics. . . . I also work very hard. I prepare, I eat the right things and take care of my body so it allows me to you know still be fast at 34. I guess I’m not supposed to, I don’t know, but you know I think when I’m in my forties I think I’ll still be fast.”

Playing another ten years would put him at the age of 43. Obviously, very few play the game that long but if that's his desire, all the power to him. Watching the game from the sideline all those years did prevent him from taking a beating for the last decade, so from that perspective, he might be able to push through and do it.

The big question becomes whether or not he'll be a starter for that long in Seattle.

In all likelihood, the Seahawks will want to turn the page to a younger option at some point in the near future, but that doesn't mean Geno will go right back to holding a clipboard for the remainder of his career. There will always be a few teams out there that will be looking for a bridge quarterback and perhaps he'll be able to squeeze out another year or two as a starter after his time is up in Seattle.

Go get it, Geno!

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