NFL

Don’t expect any miracles out of new Jets QB Smith

Geno Smith stood outside the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center and Sal Paolantonio from ESPN bent down to pick up a New York Post and showed him the frontpage headline — B’way Geno.

All of the Jets quarterbacks since Broadway Joe Namath, from Richard Todd to Mark Sanchez, tried so hard to mesmerize the city the way Joe Willie White Shoes did, not necessarily with late-night partying, but with touchdown passes, and, of course, a Super Bowl.

But Geno Smith said: “I want my own name.”

They all wish they could bottle days like this, days of hope and promise, interception-free days when you stand tall in the pocket and refuse to fumble in the face of a 14-minute blitz of a press conference as harmful to your health as the Jets pass rush.

Days when the best nickname for him could be G Whiz.

Days when no one has the heart to warn him about the danger that lurks ahead, the dysfunction that GM John Idzik has inherited, the merciless sinkhole that most recently swallowed Mark Sanchez, the fan base that has suffered 40 years and counting without a championship, the free agent Rexodus that has depleted the roster, especially the offense, the circus that Tim Tebow brings as long as the club continues to hold him hostage.

The lessons of the past, the fact he will eventually be standing on a quarterback burial ground, compels me to shout out to Jets Nation:

Don’t expect miracles.

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G Whiz appears comfortable in his own skin, so critical in this market, mature beyond his 22 years and grounded, and seems to believe deeply in his abilities. That’s a start.

Todd had the misfortune of being anointed Namath’s successor, what with their link to Alabama, and being a No. 1 draft choice. He was big enough, and had a big arm, but he was too thin-skinned to survive and was jettisoned by Joe Walton a year after his five-interception nightmare in the Mud Bowl.

Matt Robinson, who briefly stole the job from Todd until horseplay off the field before the 1979 opener doomed him, was long on intangibles but hardly a physical specimen.

They called Browning Nagle the Browning Rifle for reasons that need no explanation, but it takes more than a gun to solve NFL defenses.

Ken O’Brien was as bright as they come, and had a good arm, but he couldn’t withstand the beatings he took behind a porous offensive line.

Boomer Esiason arrived five years too late, and $25 million man Neil O’Donnell should have stayed with the Steelers.

Glenn Foley had plenty of moxie, but lacked durability and an understanding of what it took to be a Bill Parcells quarterback.

Vinny Testaverde had a cannon, and understood exactly what it took to be a Bill Parcells quarterback. And then he ruptured his Achilles’ Tendon on Opening Day 1999.

Chad Pennington had the smarts, the accuracy, the fire, the leadership, he just didn’t have the durability or the arm.

Kellen Clemens was a terrific guy, but never more than a backup.

Brett Favre had the experience and the aura and the arm, until he didn’t have the arm anymore in December, or the stomach for New York.

Sanchez played his best in the big games as Rex Ryan’s Wonder Boy, aka the Sanchise. And then, as the team deteriorated around him, he Buttfumbled it all away.

You will hear and read the inevitable criticisms and nitpicking of Geno Smith, because it comes with the territory.

“My character and my play speaks for itself,” Smith said.

He once handed his mother a box of pizza at West Virginia so he could retreat to the film room to study Texas.

“I had the ability to check to any play at any given time,” Smith said. “My preparation is one of the things that I think separated me in college from most guys.”

He recognizes that his 32 fumbles are unacceptable.

“At the quarterback position I’ve gotta take care of the ball,” Smith said.

He has a better arm than Sanchez, not as good as Testaverde’s. He has more mobility than any of them. He isn’t as accurate as O’Brien and Pennington. He will be a better leader than Sanchez, not as good as Pennington.

What will it all add up to? The Jets think he can be a franchise quarterback. So does he. The first day of the rest of Geno’s Smith’s life went smoothly.

G Whiz for now.

steve.serby@nypost.com