Smith: From obscurity to NFL star

Mondo Barry remembers walking past a large house on his way to school in Texarkana and hearing his best friend, Rod, say he was going to live in a similar type house someday.

“We were 12 years old and living in public housing at Ozan Courts,” Barry said. “Every day, he’d point at that big house and tell our group of friends ‘I’m going to get me one of those.’ We all laughed, of course, but he did it. Sure did.”

Today, Rod Smith lives in a 11,000-square foot home outside of Denver, Colo.

Mission accomplished. Nothing was easy for Rod Smith, an undrafted free agent who played 14 years in the NFL and won two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos. Smith holds franchise records for career receptions (849), receiving yards (11,389), touchdown catches (68), touchdowns (71) and 100-yard games (31).

He is still second to Wes Welker for most receptions by an undrafted player in NFL history. ESPN rates Smith as Denver’s best undrafted player in the history of the

RICK FIRES

franchise and the website Bleacher Report lists Smith No. 8 among the top 25 NFL free agents of all time.

Smith’s rise from obscurity should be inspirational to anyone who’s been overlooked, undervalued, or cast aside. His story should be of particular interest to NFL hopefuls like former Razorbacks De’Jon Harris, CJ O’Grady, McTelvin Agim, Kamren Curl and Kirk Merritt from Arkansas State who are hoping to be drafted or signed as free agents this week.

“The thing is, I didn’t get my name called on draft day,” Smith said in an interview with the Denver Post after he was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Honor. “Some people weren’t too smart, because they measured all this other stuff but they didn’t measure a person’s heart. The Broncos gave me a chance, and that’s all I cared about.”

Smith rose to NFL stardom from obscurity at Missouri Southern State University, an NCAA Division II program located in Joplin, Mo. Smith greatly helped his chance for a professional career in football when he switched from quarterback to wide receiver.

“Rod played one year at quarterback at Missouri Southern,” said Barry, Smith’s lifelong friend who works for the Texarkana (Ark.) School District. “Jon Lantz, his coach at the time, told Rod he could be an All-Conference quarterback or an All-American receiver. Rod made the right choice, obviously.”

As a senior, Smith had nearly 1,000 yards in receptions and was a finalist for the Harlan Hill award that goes to the top player each season in Division II. But Smith went undrafted in 1994, which shows again NFL coaches and front-office personnel whose job it is to spot talent are far from geniuses. Denver

finally took a chance on Smith as a free agent and, a year on the practice squad, he caught his first career touchdown pass from John Elway in a 38-31 victory over the Washington Redskins.

Smith eventually won two Super Bowl rings and his 80-yard reception from Elway in Super Bowl XXXIII was the big play in a 34-19 victory over Atlanta in 1999. But Smith’s success wasn’t limited to the football field. He earned three degrees at Missouri Southern and he’s now involved in real estate and other entrepreneurial ventures in the Denver area after retiring in 2007 from the NFL at age 38.

Smith’s story is worth remembering during NFL Draft week as someone who dared to dream big and refused to allow occasional obstacles to stand in his way.

“One other thing you need to remember about Rod,” Barry said. “In 14 years, he never missed a voluntary workout with the Broncos, even when he was a main player. That tells you something right there.”