“Simply considered a special athlete at returning kicks and a project at receiver.”
“He's one of the premier punt returners in the nation with a 17.1-yard average per return with three TDs. He is a tough athlete who will take a hit and hold on to the ball.”
Let the doubts begin. These quotes are pre-draft analysis on the 2001 3rd-round pick Steve Smith. Coming out of Utah, Smith was just a hair above 5’9’’, weighed just 184 pounds, and was drafted as a dynamic player in the return game. The list of receivers drafted before him goes like this. In the first round, 6 receivers were selected: David Terrell, Koren Robinson, Rod Gardner, Santana Moss, Freddie Mitchell, and Reggie Wayne. The second round goes as followed, Quincy Morgan, Chad Johnson, Robert Ferguson, and Chris Chambers. Reggie Wayne, and even Chad Johnson, yes Chad “Ocho Cinco”, can make their case to be future Hall of Fame wide receivers. None in my opinion can make a better case than the overlooked Steve Smith.
In his rookie season in Carolina, Smith failed to start at the wide receiver position. This just being a small bump in the road for him. Despite not starting at WR, Smith reached the 2001 Pro Bowl after he returned two kickoffs and a punt for touchdowns. On the opening kickoff of his first season in the National Football League, a legend was born.
All was fine and dandy in Carolina after his rookie season. He was an up-and-coming rookie with out of this world speed that had the potential to take the league by storm. Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes were the only players in 2001 to accumulate more yards from scrimmage than Smith.
In training camp the following year, questions started to arise. Smith was involved in a dormitory altercation with fellow teammate and receiver Gilian Gary. Neither Smith or Gary were reprimanded for their actions. Following training camp and a great preseason, Smith got his first chance to start at wide receiver. This experiment had began to develop much faster than any scout or personnel coach had thought. But the character issues began to show its ugly head later in the same season. Smith was involved in another altercation, this time with teammate Anthony Brite, in a film-room meeting. The hammer was dropped hard on Smith, he was arrested on misdemeanor assault charges and was suspended one game for his actions. He finished the season with 54 receptions for 872 yards and 3 touchdowns. However, what really was in question was whether this 3rd-round pick out of Utah was worth the trouble. Now, a dynamic RECEIVER, not just returner, coaches and owners had a real problem to face. They needed to learn how to capture lightning in a bottle.
On the field, Steve Smith took his play to another level in 2003. Two years prior, this Carolina team had won one mere game to finish the season 1-15. Fast forward two years and the team had reached its only NFC title and its first SuperBowl berth. Smith was a key factor in getting them there. Smith ended this season with 88 receptions for 1,110 yards and 7 touchdowns. The doubts as to whether this kid could play wide receiver in the NFL had come to rest. He can play, and boy would he tell you about it.
Nonetheless, doubts were still lingering as we’ll soon see throughout this man’s illustrious career. Will he still be a disruptive and selfish teammate? A new doubt would emerge and more adversity would come smiths way. In 2004, in the opening game, Smith would severely break a bone his leg and would be out for the remainder of the 2004 season. Following this season, Steve Smith began to show why he is so revered in the NFL to this day. He will now start to show the tough-as-nails mentality that helped him survive in the streets on L.A. as a kid. The mentality that nothing can get in this his way. Not character questions, not questions as to whether or not he can catch the ball, not even nearly snapping his leg in half. Yet why do we continue to doubt the man?
Undoubtedly, Smith would follow up his 2004 season with what would become his best season to date. Smith dominated the league that year, leading the NFL in catches with 103, receiving yards with 1,563, and touchdowns with 12. He had become one of the league’s premier wideouts in a span of 3 years. Smith would continue his dominance in the postseason, catching 22 balls, racking up 302 yards and 4 total touchdowns in two postseason games. He and the Panthers would fall short at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC title game. The prized possession of a championship ring has still eluded him. Smith would be named The Comeback Player of the Year and share this award with Tedy Bruschi. The respect was there, the hardware and statistical accomplishment was there. Yet the old character questions would appear again in 2008.
After three straight 1,000 yard seasons at the WR position, Smith would be involved in another training camp altercation with teammate Ken Lucas. Lucas sustained a broken nose during the fight and Smith was handed a two-game suspension. Now that Smith has become an crucial part of Carolina’s success on the field. The decision to do away with him because of off the field issues had become somewhat easy. The intense and pitbull-esque way of play was going to have to be a pill Carolina had to swallow.
Or was it?
Injuries began to plague smith in 2009 and 2010, where Smith broke his left forearm, twice; once on the field, and also in the infamous flag football game.
This was followed by what many consider was Smith’s worst season in the NFL. He finished with just 46 receptions for 556 yards and 2 TDs. Albeit, those were all team highs, this just wasn’t the Steve Smith the League had began to love. Was he done? Is age and injury beginning to take a toll on his body? How much longer can he keep this up? The real question was, when will this guy win a ring? The Panthers had fallen from grace after a 2-14 season. The Panthers had secured the number one pick in the 2011 draft.
Carolina had selected Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. The larger-than-life dual threat quarterback who demanded the spotlight wherever he stood, whether on the field or off. Many people questioned how this would effect Smith and whether these two polarizing teammates could co-exist. Although Smith had still put up consistent numbers from 2011-2013, a distaste for the franchise began to grow all-around. The Carolina Panthers eventually released the franchise’s best WR in 2013. Parting ways did not sit well with Smith. As he would show on the field in 2014 on the opposite sideline, with the Baltimore Ravens. Lets bring in the doubts again. A new team? 13 years into his career and you’re starting over? He’s done. There's nothing left. When will we learn?
Smith finished the game with 7 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns, as the Ravens routed the Panthers 38-10. Smith became the oldest player in NFL history to lead the league in receiving yards after 4 weeks (35 years old). The receiver reached 1,000 yards for the eighth time in his career.
During a press conference on August 10, 2015, Smith announced the upcoming season would be his last.In week 4 of what would be Smiths last season, the team announced that Smith had broken 4 ribs. At 36, was he done? No, he returned in week 8, only to see the unthinkable happen.
But, in Steve Smith fashion, like no one else can do, Smith announced he will not retire and will return for the 2016 season. Here is what he had to say about the people who have doubted him:
"To be honest, you guys don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, so it doesn’t matter,” Smith said, via the team’s website. “The numbers I put up will be the numbers I put up, and I’ll happen to put up those numbers at the age of 37. Can I run like I used to at 22? No. But I’m comfortable being 37 years old, being on this team, and they’re comfortable with me. When I started to put up good numbers, you guys told me, ‘Well, he’ll tail off.’ What you need to do is just let me play and quit commenting about my play, because every time you all tell me something I can’t do, then you have a reason for why I’m doing it.”
So, if any one out there continues to doubt this man, to his words, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
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