Geno Smith flourishing in Seattle five years after ugly Giants experience

The public backlash to Eli Manning’s benching, to Geno Smith’s one and only start for the Giants on Dec. 3, 2017, will always stand as one of the darker moments in the franchise’s history.

There was real sentiment among some NFL people who matter — not just fans — that the situation was made worse by ending Manning’s 210 consecutive games streak for Smith in particular.

That was not only ignorant in the wake of Smith becoming the first — and still only — Black quarterback to ever start an NFL regular season game for the Giants.

It ignored Smith’s respectable performance in that 24-17 loss and could have soiled his reputation for good as the second New York football team to wash its hands of him — albeit for far fewer valid reasons than the Jets had.

To Smith’s credit, he has shown rare poise, patience and resolve in the face of that ugly 2017 hate to gradually rebuild his career five years later as the starting quarterback of the surprising Seattle Seahawks (4-3) against the Giants (6-1) Sunday at Lumen Field.

“He never spoke on it. He was always positive between me, Eli, [head coach] Ben [McAdoo] and everyone in that room,” Giants third-string QB Davis Webb told the Daily News on Thursday of Smith’s reaction to all that nastiness in 2017. “There was nothing negative whatsoever from anybody. Obviously outside the facility, [it] was pretty loud.”

Smith, who leads the NFL completion percentage (73.5%), admirably took the high road on Thursday after beating one former team, the Chargers, and preparing for the Giants.

“I was with those franchises, and they did well by me,” Smith, 32, said in Seattle. “I don’t have any remorse or anything … [My time with the Giants] was short-lived. I was only there for really a year.

“What I can say is I enjoyed my time there, had an opportunity to learn and grow, was able to be under Coach McAdoo and Mr. Jerry Reese, who I owe a lot to,” Smith added of the former Giants GM. “And obviously being able to be in the same room with Eli Manning and to learn from him, learn with him and to compete with him. It was awesome just to be a part of that for a year.”

Smith’s diplomatic recollection of his time in New York is admirable. Part of the reason he genuinely appreciates his Giants experience, though, is that a lot of people here believed in Smith and emboldened his confidence to continue believing in himself.

McAdoo was his No. 1 fan.

“When Coach Mac was let go and left the building, I talked to him before he left, and he had told me he felt like I deserved to play the rest of the season,” Smith told The News in March 2018. “He believed in me. A lot of people did. Guys wanted me to do well. But there are some things that are out of your control.”

What was out of Smith’s control is that co-owner John Mara, who had signed off on Manning’s benching, fired McAdoo and Reese the day after the Raiders loss and reinstalled Manning as starter to placate the angry mob.

“[There were] a lot of speculations and stuff surrounding that game, but for me, like I’ve always been, I was just focused on the game,” Smith said Thursday. “I didn’t really get caught up in anything else.”

The Giants’ email subject line “Geno Smith to Start at QB on Sunday” from Nov. 28, 2017, sadly will forever trigger this fan base even more than the 22-59 record the next five seasons that resulted from clinging to Manning and failing to properly rebuild.

If Smith seeks revenge on Sunday against the Giants, he is not showing it. But he did show some fire post-game in Oakland in 2017 amid all of the rage surrounding his replacement of Manning. He directed it at his former Jets coach Rex Ryan, who had blasted Smith on ESPN the morning of his start in Oakland.

“I did see one of my ex-coaches say he didn’t want me to be his quarterback. And that really upset me, ya know?” Smith said after completing 21-of-34 passes for 212 yards, one touchdown, and two lost fumbles on sacks surrendered by Ereck Flowers and Chad Wheeler. “A guy that we saved his job in 2013 when we fought our ass for him both years. And for him to come out and say that shows you how much of a coward he is.”

Then-Giants tackle Justin Pugh also stood up for Smith against the wave of nastiness.

“[It’s] great to see 10 out there, [but] I feel bad for Geno, too,” Pugh said after Manning was reinstalled as the starter. “He didn’t ask to get put in the situation and a lot of disrespect and hate were thrown his way and it’s just uncalled for. I get everyone wants to support Eli, but by supporting one man to put another man down is just not the way to do it.”

Unforgettably, Smith said after returning to the Giants’ bench: “It’s not one of those things I took personal. I know that it has nothing to do with me, personally, so I’m not going to take it that way and that’s all I can say about that.”

He said “I don’t need any sympathy. I’m built for this.” And that spring, he tripled down on his ultimate aim.

“My goal is to be a franchise quarterback,” he told The News then. “I’m ready to lead. Once I have the opportunity I’ll cherish it, and I’ll take full advantage of it.

“I’m not gonna cry over spilled milk over things I can’t control,” he added. “It just added fuel to fire, made my offseason workouts interesting because I’m working harder. That opportunity was taken away from me for whatever reason, so every time I step on the field or in weight room, that’s my motivation.”

That led Smith to the Chargers for one year, then he found a home in 2018 with Seattle, though his ascent took time.

Fast forward to this fall, and no one foresaw Smith being an upgrade to the recent play of his predecessor, current Denver Broncos starter Russell Wilson. But that’s exactly what he’s been under head coach Pete Carroll and second-year offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

Giants secondary coach Jerome Henderson said Friday that on film, he sees Smith “playing at a high level” and “reading the full field.”

“I see a guy who is scanning the entire field, sideline to sideline, and sometimes throwing it to his fifth read,” Henderson said. He also noted that Smith has been poised with a plan when the pocket collapses.

“He could always spin it,” Webb said of his former teammate. “He did with the Jets. He did it here. And he’s doing it there.”

He did it here and, for better and worse, Smith’s lone Giants start will forever be a seminal moment in this organization’s history. Fortunately, some good came out of it:

Smith found the confidence to keep going. And now here he is, with a chance for payback.