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San Francisco • Buried beneath the rubble of the San Francisco 49ers' collapse, somewhere under the 6-10 record, the firing of coach Mike Singletary and another season out of the playoffs, Alex Smith enjoyed the best stretch of his career.
Showing a form not seen since he was a Heisman Trophy finalist at Utah, Smith threw 11 touchdown passes and just three interceptions during his final seven games.
He was injured, benched and booed during that stretch — a fitting encapsulation of his 49ers career — but Smith felt as if he had turned a corner. He posted a career-best 130.9 rating in Week 14 against Seattle and followed up with a 107.8 rating in the season finale against Arizona.
"This is the best quarterback I've ever been,'' he said while cleaning out his locker the day after the season. "It's the best understanding of football. The best I've felt physically. … No question, I've continued to grow.
"I'm still pretty young in the perspective of this game. I'm 26. I've got a lot of football ahead of me."
Smith's undercover hot streak came too late to save his 49ers career. He is an unrestricted free agent, and neither side has shown the slightest hint of wanting the marriage to continue.
Consider that when Jim Harbaugh was introduced as the 49ers new head coach on Friday, he ran through a detailed list of what he wants in a quarterback. Harbaugh was at the dais for more than 30 minutes. He didn't mention Smith once.
Smith doesn't have any delusions about coming back, either. He knows the end of the line when he sees it — or hears it. During his final game in San Francisco, when he was on his way to throwing for 276 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 38-7 victory, impatient fans booed an early incomplete pass.
Smith chuckled on the field.
"No question, I've gone through enough of that,'' he said. "It's laughable a little bit to play like that, throw an incompletion and get booed. That stuff is not fazing me, at this point. I've been through enough that I can deal with that."
Things were supposed to be different when Smith burst out of Utah as the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NFL draft. He had all the appearances of an NFL dream: a sturdy 6-foot-4 passer with a strong arm, mobility and off-the-charts intelligence.
A 49ers fan base spoiled by the sparkling quarterback play of Joe Montana and Steve Young was eager for the next big thing.
Smith had the proper pedigree. During his two seasons as a starter, Smith led the Utes to a 21-1 record as the ideal maestro for coach Urban Meyer's spread offense. He could read the field, whip the ball on a line to the man and keep plays alive with his feet.
Beyond the talent was a work ethic that prompted one scout to compare him to a young Peyton Manning. Meyer, for instance, would often stumble upon Smith late at night, when the quarterback was going over game film — again — long after his teammates had gone home.
As if that wasn't enough, Smith had the ideal makeup for a franchise in need of a new face, Smith was the polite and dutiful son of a high school principal. (Doug Smith runs the show at Helix High in La Mesa, Calif.)
Before the draft, the 49ers decided to put his good-guy reputation to the test with a series of ridiculous drills in a personal workout. Smith was called upon, for example, to sit in an awkward position on the ground and shuffle the ball between his legs.
Smith never blinked. Never questioned it. Mike Nolan, the 49ers coach at the time, knew he had his man.
"It's like when you ask your kid to take out the trash,'' he said then. "You don't want them to ask why. You just want them to do it."
The quarterback's makeup became the deciding factor when the 49ers chose Smith over Aaron Rodgers, a popular star at nearby Cal.
Smith went No. 1 and got a $49.5 million contract, including $24 million guaranteed; Rodgers tumbled to the Packers at No. 24.
That's not quite Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, but 49ers fans still cringe with every Smith interception and every Rodgers touchdown pass.
Where did it go wrong?
Smith's backers say his career was torpedoed by a lousy supporting cast and coaching instability. He had six offensive coordinators in six years — a lot that ranged from aggressive Mike Martz to buttoned-up Jimmy Raye. Rich Gannon, a former MVP quarterback with the Raiders, is among those to argue that even Manning would have struggled with similar upheaval.
Smith's detractors say he failed to live up to his end of the bargain, noting that the team upgraded his receiving corps — by drafting tight end Vernon Davis and receiver Michael Crabtree — and his offensive line, by using two first-round picks on blockers last season. Smith was supposed to have everything in place this season, but instead, he opened 0-6 as a starter, with nine interceptions in his first five games.
Shortly before being ousted, Singletary was squarely among the detractors. He benched Smith for a must-win game at St. Louis (the 49ers lost anyway) and acknowledged the quarterback let him down.
"I mean, the most important thing for me coming into the season was to make sure I gave Alex every opportunity that I possibly could to succeed,'' Singletary said. "I did not impede that in any way. And it's worked out the way it's worked out and, you know, you can say, yes, you're disappointed."
After Singletary was fired, interim coach Jim Tomsula's first order of business was re-installing Smith as his starting quarterback. Smith responded with a stellar performance — and a final audition before free agency.
"I think the attractive thing is finally getting a say in where you want to go, where you're going to be,'' Smith said. "I haven't had that chance up until now, so obviously, there is a positive in it."
Coming out of Helix High, where he was a teammate of Reggie Bush, Smith chose Utah, in part, because of his love of winter sports. His father had worked as a ski instructor, so Alex was on the mountain before he was 2. He was 12 when he took up snowboarding.
"That's why I loved Utah,'' he said. "It's tough. I haven't been on a mountain since I was drafted, but I'll wakeboard and ski whenever I can."
Unlike his decision to go to Utah, Smith is now in search of a place where he can go uphill. He thinks he's on his way. Only three quarterbacks — Tom Brady, Rodgers and Josh Freeman — had a better touchdown-to-interception ratio during their final seven games.
His overall quarterback rating this season was a career-high, albeit pedestrian, 82.1.
Now, he's off in search of a fresh start. Smith hopes to become one of those rare, late-blooming No. 1 picks, such as Jim Plunkett (Super Bowl MVP in his ninth season for his third team) or Vinny Testaverde (first Pro Bowl at 33).
"One of the main things I learned is that no one, especially at the quarterback position, has it easy," Smith said. "Everyone, at some point in their career, is going to battle through things — adversity, bumps in the road, whatever you want to call it. Everybody does it. I'm moving forward. Who knows where?"
Daniel Brown is a staff reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. He has covered the 49ers during much of Alex Smith's career.