Kansas City Chiefs players make it clear they’ll miss Alex Smith

Several of Alex Smith’s now-former teammates took to social media to share their love of their longtime starting quarterback.

The Kansas City Chiefs surprised the NFL in the week leading up to the Super Bowl with news of their own. With the trade of starting quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins, the Chiefs shocked pretty much anyone and everyone, including the players who once called Smith a teammate only a few days ago.

Clearly Smith has been in the know for some time because he’d already worked out a reported four-year contract extension by the time details of the trade has also leaked. However it’s also clear he hadn’t told any of his colleagues no matter how close they were. Their responses on social media made it clear that they knew as much as the rest of Chiefs Kingdom.

The deal, which sent Smith to Washington in exchange for a third round pick in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft as well as cornerback Kendall Fuller, means that Patrick Mahomes will now be the team’s starting quarterback after sitting for a season behind Smith learning Andy Reid’s complex offense. He showed plenty of moxie and a strong arm in Week 17’s comeback win over the Denver Broncos and now the task to lead this team is on his shoulders.

It’s clear he has a lot to live up to in the responses of Chiefs players, past and present, to the news that Smith had been traded. Smith had not only set career marks statistically in the last few months but had established himself as a winner in K.C. to the tune of 50 regular season wins in 5 seasons.

Here’s a sampling from Chiefs Twitter: