Alex Smith

Winning is all that does matter.

The No. 1 stat is wins. As a quarterback, you get evaluated on winning.

I can just remember games as a young player, counting my stats on the sideline. 'What am I now? I'm this many completions for this many attempts. I wonder what my rating is.'

I enjoy the challenge of coming together with my teammates and playing well for them.

To a lot of people, I might just be the guy who went No. 1 in the draft. Or the guy who lost his job to Colin Kaepernick. Or the guy who helped turn a 2-14 Chiefs team into a back-to-back division champ... but then couldn't put them over the top.

When you're a quarterback, and you're dropping back, I can't watch what the receivers are doing.

It's one thing as a quarterback to sit there and warm up. And there's one thing to throw routes. And there's another thing when you drop back in the pocket and, when a guy comes open, to really be able to urgently - bam - all of a sudden. That guy's open; your body has to do what your mind's telling you.

It's fun to come in when it's first down. It's not fun to come back in when it's third-and-long.

Failures and setbacks are inevitable for all of us.

That's the great thing about the NFL: A team can get hot and win a championship.

As a QB, it's a team game, and you're all out there in it.

In this league, you can't take your foot off the gas pedal. You think you have something won, but teams are too good, too talented.