Because Alex Smith had one and a half productive seasons as the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, he can look back upon his tenure there positively.

Smith struggled through injuries and frequent changes to his coaching staff until the arrival of Jim Harbaugh in 2011.

"If I'd left two years ago before Harbaugh got there, I would've held onto a little more, regret or bitterness about what had happened," Smith said.

Smith is now the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Andy Reid had long been an admirer of Smith.

"I met him (Reid) through the draft process, and it seemed like through the first eight years, we played the Eagles eight times or something like that (actually, six times)," Smith said. "I saw a lot of the Eagles that way. I'd heard little rumors here and there, but you never know what's true and what's not."

Smith and Harbaugh still communicate on occasion.

"I think for me, it was a posititive," he said. "I'm not lying -- not b.s.ing. No question, I went through some different things, but it all led to me where I am today."