After multiple seasons of lackluster play at the quarterback position, the Las Vegas Raiders traded a third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for veteran quarterback Geno Smith. He undoubtedly upgrades the quarterback position for the Silver and Black moving forward.
More importantly, Smith’s arrival should help with the transition of new Raiders head coach Pete Carroll. It also gives the Raiders flexibility in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Smith is entering his 12th season in the league, and the Raiders will be the fifth team he has played for. After his most successful stint as a starting quarterback in the league while in Seattle, he looks to have similar success with the Raiders.
Smith and Raiders minority owner Tom Brady met after the Raiders completed the trade for the veteran quarterback.
“I got a chance to facetime with Tom [Brady] once I was traded. It’s Tom Brady. It’s a guy that I’ve idolized and looked up to, and I believe that he does things the right way. And I think that’s something that I wanted to take from just watching his game from afar. Then you get to meet him. I got a chance to talk to him. I went to his home, and got a chance to just spend about an hour and just talk ball with him and just talk life.”
The Raiders‘ new signal-caller’s time with Brady gave him insight into how the greatest quarterback in National Football League history became so successful. Smith identifies with Brady’s work ethic and looks forward to continuing to learn from Brady’s wealth of knowledge.
“You understand why he is who he is immediately. He takes everything extremely serious. He’s a diligent worker, and he believes in hard work. And I think we align in that way, and I want to be a sponge. I want to soak up as much knowledge as I can from him. I want to learn as much as I can from him, the greatest quarterback to play the game. I mean, there’s so many things that you can learn. I think the main thing is that I’m here to win, and I’m here to do the right things for my teammates, just as he did,” Smith said.
Few, if any, quarterbacks in the league have someone like Brady at their fingertips, as Smith will. Smith would be wise to lean on Brady as a resource as much as possible.