On Sunday, veteran quarterback Geno Smith signed a one year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. This was announced by the team on Sunday night. However, no details about the terms of the deal were disclosed.
Smith has spent his first four seasons with the Jets and one season with the Giants. He required a fresh start probably far away as much as any recent New York athlete. After Smith surprisingly slipped out of the first round of the NFL Draft in 2013, he began all the 16 games as a rookie second-round pick by filling up the place of the injured Mark Sanchez. In the next season, he went 3-10 in 13 starts and did not get a fair shake in the year 2015.
After a locker room altercation along with fellow teammate IK Enemkpali during the preseason, Smith suffered from a fractured jaw. Ryan Fitzpatrick took over and was placed as the starter. Smith played in just three games with one start in the 2015-2016 seasons combined. Later, the Giants’ 2017 season took a turn for the strange. With the Giants miserable season, Manning was included in Week 13 in favor of Smith. The season ended with Manning’s streak of 210 consecutive starts, which was the third-longest streak recorded in the NFL history for a quarterback.
In the Giants’ 92-year franchise history, Smith was the very first African-American starting quarterback. General Manager Jerry Reese and Coach Ben McAdoo were fired by the Giants a few days later and the interim coach Steve Spagnuolo later reinstalled Manning as the starter again.
The Giants fans wanted either Manning or the third-round pick Davis Webb to play instead of Smith, who was just seen as a short-term placeholder. But Smith handled the awkward situation well although he received death threats.
