It has somehow been 20 years since the San Francisco 49ers took Alex Smith No. 1 overall

It has been a week since the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft was completed, and while we all knew that the Tennessee Titans were going to take Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick, I would imagine that the new reality of everything is still shocking to Cam.

That is what comes with being the No. 1 overall pick. Your life is instantly changed and you belong to a very exclusive club. Pressure mounts and you have to deliver or people will remember all of the players that were taken behind you.

Someone I always admired for how they handled this type of pressure took a little bit longer than some would have liked to realize the potential of the selection. The San Francisco 49ers took Utah’s Alex Smith at No. 1 overall (sorry, Aaron Rodgers) back in the 2005 NFL Draft and as much as I don’t want this to be true... 2005 was somehow 20 years ago.

On the Friday morning after the first round this year I was fortunate to be able to catch up with Alex to talk about his draft memories, how he views the league as a whole and more. You can watch our conversation below.

At that particular moment in time we had just passed the 20-year anniversary of his draft selection. Time really does fly.

Obviously I touched on this with Alex and he noted how life-changing of a thing it was for him.

“It was so surreal. It obviously changed my life. I’m 40 years old.”

It was a defining moment for me. To be on the cover of every newspaper in the country. The face of the franchise as a 20-year old for the San Francisco 49ers, an organization steeped in legacy of quarterback play.”

“...as a 20-year old trying to navigate that... it was something that I... I don’t know how you could be prepared for. It certainly obviously changed my life. Never thought I would go on to have a 16-year career, obviously incredibly lucky in so many ways.”

While Smith was the top choice in 2005, his career did not fully begin to blossom until 2011. I’ve already shown my age in noting how I wish 2005 wasn’t so far in the rearview mirror, but forgive me for doing it again and noting that this would simply not happen in today’s day and age. You have to hit the ground running as a No. 1 pick in modern times. Consider the Class of 2021 (only four years ago) and how those quarterbacks are discussed. Trevor Lawrence is the lone survivor so to speak and even he has his doubters, but fellow first-rounders like Zach Wilson, Trey Lance and Mac Jones have all already been pronounced as Not The Guy by several teams.

Alex Smith played in a unique time in this way and therefore had a unique career. A lot of people know him for the gruesome injury that he suffered several years later while he was the starting quarterback in Washington, and his comeback story has been told several times over due to how remarkable it is.

While Alex did prevail in that particular fight, it took a Herculean effort from a medical standpoint for this to be true. What’s more is that it took a lot of inner reflection and at times, as he told me, he had doubts and worries. Alex spoke about how we should all be willing to talk about issues like what he went through and his partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals and their “Pain Game Plan” initiative which seeks to empower athletes and non-athletes alike to work with their doctors to create personalized pain plans in case of an injury or before surgery.

To learn more about the partnership visit www.PainGamePlan.com.

Our thanks to Alex and to Vertex Pharmaceuticals for the time.