"I expected to be able to run a little bit," Smith said in late April. "That's an unrealistic expectation I put on myself that my wife, the training staff, the coaches and doctors said, 'Steve, that's not reality.' I joked with them -- the one thing I really believe in, if nobody believes in me, I damn well believe in myself. They told me I'm putting too much pressure on myself. I'm supposed to start jogging pretty soon, though. I'm attempting very hard, to go with the flow and do the best I can and allow the process to take its course. This is an injury that takes something I have very little of: patience. Terrible. I'm getting on my wife's nerves. I'm overanalyzing everything."

Said Harbaugh: "This is like the greatest thing that could ever happen to him, for his personal development. He does not accept doing anything less than the best that can be done. With an Achilles tear, the worst thing you can do is go too fast. The best thing is don't push it. He wants to be two weeks ahead of schedule. You talk about poetic justice? This is like what your mom says, when you have kids, 'You got what you deserved.' "

Until he was injured, Smith singled out an unexpected low point in his career: the 2005 season, when he led the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Smith was not prepared for the pressure that was being put on him as his production mounted. During games, he wondered to himself how much longer he could keep this up.

"Some people grow up and think, This is what I want to do, this is what I'm going to do," Smith said. "This is something I hoped I could do. But because of all the things I had to overcome, as I played, I really struggled with, was this dream going to end? Was I daydreaming? That is one of the things that has driven me to practice hard and play hard -- the fear of failure."