Following the Seattle Seahawks' 27-13 victory over the New York Giants, Geno Smith didn't revel in exacting revenge over his former team.
"I'm happy to be here in Seattle," Smith told reporters Sunday. "I spent one year with the Giants. That year, to me, was like a blur. My life has moved on from then. I don't have any remorse towards anyone there. In fact, to me, this game was for (former Giants coach) Ben McAdoo and (former GM) Jerry Reese. They believed in me. As far as any other thing, I don't really care for it. I'm happy to be here in Seattle. It's like a family here. Feels like home. I'm just enjoying my time here and continuing to work hard with these guys and just trying to be the best we can be."
During Geno's one season in New York in 2017, McAdoo inserted Smith as the starter, breaking Eli Manning's ironman streak of 210 consecutive starts. However, following the Week 13 loss to the Raiders, McAdoo and Reese were fired, and Manning returned as the starter.
Following that tumultuous season, Smith spent one year as the backup to Philip Rivers with the Chargers. He then moved to Seattle, where he sat behind Russell Wilson for three seasons.
Now the full-time starter, Smith has shined, leading the Seahawks to a 5-3 record, the only team in the NFC West above .500.
In Sunday's victory over Big Blue, Smith tossed for 212 yards and two passing TDs with zero INTs for a 104.0 passer rating. It marked Smith's fifth game this season with a 100-plus passer rating, most in the NFL. Geno has generated six games with multiple passing TDs this season -- he had seven such games in his previous nine seasons.
"He's the real deal, we're seeing it," head coach Pete Carroll said. "There's no mystery or, 'Oh, he's going to run out of gas or something.' It's not like that. He knows exactly what he's doing and he shows you week in and week out, throw after throw after throw. There's nothing for us to hold him but in the highest of expectations, really. What a thrilling story for the kid. He just hung in there so tough and outlasted it and now he's enjoying all the fun of it. He did great."
The 71-year-old Carroll is delighting in his club, starting with Smith, proving all the preseason prognosticators wrong. Pegged as a rebuilding squad, the Seahawks have now won four of their last five games.
"This is really special," Carroll said. "This is a very special opportunity right now. It's been because of all of the hype and the circumstances and all that and the challenge of it and the doubting and all that kind of stuff.
"You know, all the people that doubt, like you're losing -- we run the ball too much, you don't understand football and he can't stay up with the new game and all that kind of stuff -- that's a bunch of crap, I'm telling you. Look, we're doing fine. We're all right. I don't mind proving it day in and day out."
