This was the Alex Smith comeback years in the making.
He had endured a gruesome compound fracture in his right leg that led to a life-threatening infection but persisted through all of it to make a triumphant return to the N.F.L. Months later, in the spring of 2021, he stood with his family on a slope in Big Sky, Mont., ready for the next part of his life.
Rehabilitating his injury for his football comeback, Smith said, “was always just a means to get the rest of my life back.” As a kid, he’d enjoyed the slopes with his parents and siblings.