Revisiting QB Geno Smith's stunning 2015 fight after pending trade to Jets

Quarterback Geno Smith is set to return to the New York Jets. He hopes it's much less painful than the last time he played for the team. 

On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to trade Smith and a 2026 sixth-rounder to the Jets for a 2026 seventh-rounder, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. The deal becomes official when the new league year begins on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. 

"Complete full circle moment," Smith texted Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer after the news broke. "Looking forward to connecting with all my teammates and coaches and building a new relationship with the fans." 

It's surprising Smith — whom New York took with pick No. 39 in the 2013 NFL Draft — seems excited about returning to the Jets locker room, considering he once broke his jaw there.

Revisiting Geno Smith's Jets fight

Former Jets head coach Todd Bowles (now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) called an impromptu news conference on Aug. 11, 2015, to reveal that Smith had suffered the injury in a fight with defensive lineman IK Enemkpali.

"You're going to want a tape recorder for this," the coach said, via ESPN's Rich Cimini. 

The fight stemmed from a financial matter. Months earlier, Enemkpali had invited Smith to his youth football camp in Pflugerville, Texas, and paid $1,200 for his flight. The QB never showed. They then agreed to split the cost, but Smith still hadn't reimbursed him at the time of the fight.

"We get to training camp and IK is asking him about it," former Jets linebacker Trevor Reilly told Cimini for a story published in August 2020. "That day, he asks him. I was sitting right there; my locker was next to Geno. Geno just kind of says, 'Just chill, man, forget about it. What are you going to do if I don't pay you?'" 

Smith shouldn't have asked that. Enemkpali clocked him with an upper cut/cross to the jaw. The QB then tackled the LB, and they tussled before teammates separated them. 

"Honestly, I don't even think about it. I don't want to. It was bad news all around. Lives were altered," former Jets offensive tackle Ben Ijalana told Cimini. 

Bowles immediately cut Enemkpali, who the Buffalo Bills then signed. He played 11 games in 2015 but suffered a career-ending knee injury the following season. In 2017, his comeback attempt with the Raiders failed. At his wedding, he told Reilly he still regrets the fight. 

The punch derailed Smith's career as well. He spent the 2015 season on the bench, even though he was supposed to miss just six weeks. With Ryan Fitzpatrick as their starting QB, the Jets went 10-6 and almost made the playoffs. 

Smith started one game for the Jets in 2016 before tearing his ACL. After New York released him in 2017, he was a backup for the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers before reviving his career with the Seattle Seahawks, making two Pro Bowls in three seasons as the team's starter (2022-24). 

Per Cimini, Smith took accountability for the fight in a 2016 interview with ESPN, saying it "fueled him to be a better man." However, he didn't speak to the beat writer in 2020, and after the story was published, he called it a "shame" on X. 

Smith's second tenure with the Jets may once again leave him blindsided... figuratively speaking. The QB tossed a league-leading 17 interceptions in 2025. The Jets, meanwhile, went 3-14. As of Tuesday, FanDuel Sportsbook gives them +2000 odds to win the AFC East.