PEBBLE BEACH—Alex Smith initially didn’t realize that Thursday marked seven years to the day he got traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to make way for .

Patrick Mahomes’ championship spree

“I knew he had a crazy bright future, but to know he was going to go on this run, it’s the greatest start to a career of all-time. That’s just the facts,” Smith said. “No one would have had the audacity to predict this.”

Smith, playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, beamed over the prospect of Mahomes securing a third straight Super Bowl win . It would make for Mahomes’ fourth ring in six seasons since Smith got shipped to Washington.

next Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles

“The last time they did not make an AFC Championship Game was with me,” Smith said with a wry smile.

Smith, of course, opened as the 49ers’ No. 1 overall draft pick in 2005, and after helping turn the franchise into a playoff contender, he got traded in 2013 to the Chiefs for a pair of second-round picks.

his NFL career

Smith guided the Chiefs to the playoffs in four of five seasons, and once they summoned Mahomes for his job, he headed to Washington in 2018. A right-leg fracture his first season there put his life in jeopardy, but he returned in 2020 to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors before retiring and launching a second career in broadcasting.