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Hall of Fame
If anyone gets the Dayton Daily News, there is an AWESOME picture of him in there!
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Alex Boone fan
#1 Alex Boone Fan
Thanks for the info. I still cannot believe he was a walk on. What a talent for the Bucks.
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Alex Boone fan
#1 Alex Boone Fan
jwinslow;616439; said:
What an AWESOME pic of Antonio Smith!!!!!!!!
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Scout.com$ (Kyle Lamb)
Smith talks about his big interception during the Penn State game and his journey at Ohio State. Smith has 20 tackles and 1 interception so far this year.
Smith talks about his big interception during the Penn State game and his journey at Ohio State. Smith has 20 tackles and 1 interception so far this year.
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official.site
Senior cornerback Antonio Smith meeting with the media during the press luncheon.
Antonio Smith, senior cornerback
On the dream of scoring a touchdown
"It rarely happens in a game. It's always a pondering thing in your mind, but when it happened, it was great."
On his grandmother's reaction to his TD
"I heard she almost knocked somebody out of the stands. She was very excited."
On nine winning grades on defense
"This year, that is the most we have gotten. We're coming together. We are getting better individually and as a defensive unit."
On facing an experienced QB like Drew Tate
"Being an experienced quarterback brings confidence. You know what you can and cannot do. You know what to do in key situations. You can control the game and be a key factor in it."
On how film prepares the team
"I have studied film a lot more. The defense as a whole studied film, especially before school started. The more film you watch, the more confident you become. You can see what play they might run if they line up a certain way."
On playing Iowa at night
"They are a physical team - a team always ready to play. They have a great offense that can run and pass the ball. They are one of the top contenders in the Big Ten, so we just have to be ready. Our players are ready and eager to play regardless of night games."
Senior cornerback Antonio Smith meeting with the media during the press luncheon.
Antonio Smith, senior cornerback
On the dream of scoring a touchdown
"It rarely happens in a game. It's always a pondering thing in your mind, but when it happened, it was great."
On his grandmother's reaction to his TD
"I heard she almost knocked somebody out of the stands. She was very excited."
On nine winning grades on defense
"This year, that is the most we have gotten. We're coming together. We are getting better individually and as a defensive unit."
On facing an experienced QB like Drew Tate
"Being an experienced quarterback brings confidence. You know what you can and cannot do. You know what to do in key situations. You can control the game and be a key factor in it."
On how film prepares the team
"I have studied film a lot more. The defense as a whole studied film, especially before school started. The more film you watch, the more confident you become. You can see what play they might run if they line up a certain way."
On playing Iowa at night
"They are a physical team - a team always ready to play. They have a great offense that can run and pass the ball. They are one of the top contenders in the Big Ten, so we just have to be ready. Our players are ready and eager to play regardless of night games."
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Blade
DB Smith engineers success for Buckeyes
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
COLUMBUS - When Antonio Smith intercepted a pass late in Ohio State's win over Penn State Saturday, a big cheer went up in the engineering labs on campus.
That was one of their own, cutting a well-calculated line into the end zone. Smith was an engineering major before he was officially a Buckeye, so that allegiance runs deep. The senior from Columbus Beechcroft High School had to first make the football team as a walk-on in 2002. He did not make a single play that year, but he made the team. Then Smith made the scout team, then the special teams, and finally, earned a starting role as a cornerback this year. "It's a great example of good things happening to good people," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "Antonio came here on an academic scholarship, and with a lot of confidence in himself. Everyone said Antonio's a good guy, but he might never play here. He's been the best at whatever he's been asked to do. It just shows you that smart people with great passion, great toughness, can reach their goals." Smith stepped in front of a Penn State receiver, then took the interception back 55 yards for the touchdown. A career defensive player who just this spring earned an athletic scholarship for his final season, Smith said the opportunity to score is something he did not expect. "It rarely happens in a game," Smith said. "It's always a pondering thing in your mind, but when it happened, it was great. I heard [my grandmother] she almost knocked somebody out of the stands. She was very excited." Sophomore cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said Smith is an ideal role model with his dedication to the task, and his engineer-like approach to football "He is a hard worker and a smart guy," Jenkins said. "I see him in the film room all day, learning his craft. It has definitely been helping him, as you can see." Tressel named Smith his defensive player of the game following the Penn State win. "I've said quite often here in the last few days that it's one of those stories that you want a lot of young people to hear about," Tressel said. "He's a guy that had a lot of support at home and a lot of passion to reach his goals. He's an outstanding student, works his way into some special teams, works his way into the nickel position and into the starting position and he's now one of the leaders back there in the secondary. And it's just, in my mind, a tremendous story. You have to get excited for guys like Antonio."
DB Smith engineers success for Buckeyes
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
COLUMBUS - When Antonio Smith intercepted a pass late in Ohio State's win over Penn State Saturday, a big cheer went up in the engineering labs on campus.
That was one of their own, cutting a well-calculated line into the end zone. Smith was an engineering major before he was officially a Buckeye, so that allegiance runs deep. The senior from Columbus Beechcroft High School had to first make the football team as a walk-on in 2002. He did not make a single play that year, but he made the team. Then Smith made the scout team, then the special teams, and finally, earned a starting role as a cornerback this year. "It's a great example of good things happening to good people," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "Antonio came here on an academic scholarship, and with a lot of confidence in himself. Everyone said Antonio's a good guy, but he might never play here. He's been the best at whatever he's been asked to do. It just shows you that smart people with great passion, great toughness, can reach their goals." Smith stepped in front of a Penn State receiver, then took the interception back 55 yards for the touchdown. A career defensive player who just this spring earned an athletic scholarship for his final season, Smith said the opportunity to score is something he did not expect. "It rarely happens in a game," Smith said. "It's always a pondering thing in your mind, but when it happened, it was great. I heard [my grandmother] she almost knocked somebody out of the stands. She was very excited." Sophomore cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said Smith is an ideal role model with his dedication to the task, and his engineer-like approach to football "He is a hard worker and a smart guy," Jenkins said. "I see him in the film room all day, learning his craft. It has definitely been helping him, as you can see." Tressel named Smith his defensive player of the game following the Penn State win. "I've said quite often here in the last few days that it's one of those stories that you want a lot of young people to hear about," Tressel said. "He's a guy that had a lot of support at home and a lot of passion to reach his goals. He's an outstanding student, works his way into some special teams, works his way into the nickel position and into the starting position and he's now one of the leaders back there in the secondary. And it's just, in my mind, a tremendous story. You have to get excited for guys like Antonio."
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
Smith?s emergence at DB is downright exciting
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
FRED SQUILLANTE DISPATCH OSU cornerback Antonio Smith made all sorts of people happy with his interception return for a touchdown against Penn State.
When Ohio State cornerback Antonio Smith intercepted a pass Saturday and began his 55-yard dash to the end zone, a white-haired lady in the Ohio Stadium stands jumped up and went nuts.
"Honey, I was up in the bleachers just getting off," said Mattie Smith of Columbus, Antonio?s grandmother. "I was dancing, saying, ?Run, Tony, run! Don?t drop the ball!?
"I was just going up and down and shouting. It just thrilled me."
Never mind that Mattie was still in pain from a recent knee replacement, for which she undergoes daily physical therapy.
"I guess it just shows you what you can live with when you get excited," she said.
Asked about his grandmother?s reaction, Antonio smiled and said he heard "she almost knocked someone out of the stands," adding, "it just feels good to make her happy."
Mattie Smith has always been happy with her grandson, a Beechcroft graduate who has kept a fine grade-point average (north of 3.0) in engineering while giving back to his old school and community.
Antonio was a feel-good story in the spring, when the fifthyear senior and former walk-on was put on scholarship. He also was listed as a starting cornerback.
At the time, it appeared the depth chart reflected OSU?s youth and coach Jim Tressel?s deference to seniors getting the first crack at playing time. There were plenty of doubters that Smith would fend off competition and keep the job, including his own defensive coordinator.
"Antonio is a guy ... that you really don?t, to be honest, nothing negative on him, but really didn?t expect him to play this way," Jim Heacock said before the game last week. "As a senior, he?s come on, performed and led back there in our young secondary and played very well."
Through his first three seasons, Smith played in 27 games, but all but two of those were on special teams.
This season, Smith has started all four games for the topranked Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0), who are seventh in the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 8.0 points per game.
Smith is fourth on the team in tackles with 20, including 2.5 tackles for loss.
This improvement didn?t happen by accident. It was a marriage of opportunity and hard work. With all four of the secondary starters from last season leaving, Smith knew it was now or never to get on the field.
Mattie Smith said Antonio usually had a part-time summer job but spent last summer working on football.
"He spent all his time, eight hours a day, at the Woody (OSU?s practice facility)," she said.
Beyond keeping the starting role, the ultimate payoff came Saturday, when in the waning moments against Penn State he broke on an Anthony Morelli pass, snagged it and raced for his first career touchdown to cap a 28-6 victory.
Tressel said he thought he detected just a bit of a high step as Smith reached the end zone.
"If I did, it wasn?t intentional," Smith said sheepishly.
Surrounded by a forest of microphones at the news conference Tuesday, Smith was asked whether this season was a dream come true.
"Sort of, kind of," he said. "It still kind of feels unreal, just to have you guys all standing here and the reporters and doing interviews. It?s just a great feeling."
This feel-good story just keeps getting better.
"It?s a great example of good things happening to good people," Tressel said. "It?s one of those stories that you want a lot of young people to hear about. You have to get excited for guys like Antonio."
Mattie Smith sure did.
[email protected]
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ABJ
Former walk-on wills his way
OSU senior cornerback Antonio Smith now a starter, makes big play
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
COLUMBUS - As he willed his legs to move as fast as they could on his 55-yard interception return, Antonio Smith had no time for flashbacks.
His vision was blurry. All he saw was a sea of scarlet in Ohio Stadium. He had no idea he punctuated his first career touchdown with a little high-stepping in the end zone. The only thought that crossed his mind was a tenet of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
``Make sure I give the ball to the official,'' Smith said.
So he did as he has been told.
Tressel would not have expected any less.
Thirty-nine OSU players who spent at least one season under Tressel have been drafted by NFL teams. After witnessing Smith's special moment in Saturday's 28-6 victory over Penn State, there was a sense that none of them embodies the values Tressel tries to teach as well as the senior cornerback from Beechcroft High School.
The touchdown might have capped Smith's incredible five-year journey at Ohio State. Or there could be more.
The Buckeyes rank No. 1 in the nation going into Saturday night's game at No. 13 Iowa, a nationally televised showdown (8 p.m., WEWS Ch. 5) of 4-0 teams. If they ever find themselves lacking inspiration in their bid for a national championship, they can look to the dreadlocked defensive back in their locker room.
Smith told the Columbus Dispatch his father left for California not long after he was born. While his mother, Monica, remained in Columbus, he was primarily raised by his grandmother, Mattie Smith. A two-year starter on defense at Beechcroft, Smith was the team's Most Valuable Player as a senior.
He was headed to the University of Hawaii until Beechcroft football coach Tom Dunlap contacted Tressel and persuaded him to take Smith in 2002 as a preferred walk-on. Already planning to major in mechanical engineering, Smith earned an academic scholarship through the Young Scholars program for minorities who are the first in their families to attend college. Unable to accept the $1,000 he received as a Dispatch scholar-athlete, he gave the money to Beechcroft's athletic department.
His first two years at OSU, Smith practiced with little reward. He redshirted as a freshman. In 2003, he played in three games and made one tackle. His biggest thrill was that he was twice named defensive scout team player of the week. He played in all 12 games in 2004 and '05 but played only on special teams.
In February, Tressel gave Smith an athletic scholarship. After spring practice, with the entire secondary gone and three defensive backs drafted, Smith emerged as the starter at boundary cornerback. Even then, the coaches weren't sure he would keep the spot come fall.
Not only did Smith hold off a host of young challengers, but he also earned the job of nickel back. Defensive coordinator Jim Heacock admitted two weeks ago he never could have imagined what Smith has done.
``It's a great example of good things happen to good people,'' Tressel said. ``Everyone said, `Antonio's a good guy, but he might never play here.' All of a sudden he was on special teams because he was the best at whatever he was asked to do. Then everyone said, `Well, Antonio might not end up being a starter,' and here he is.
``It just shows you that smart people with great passion, great toughness, can reach their goals.''
Through it all, Smith has excelled in the College of Engineering, which includes just fewer than 5,000 undergraduates and was the eighth-largest engineering school in the country at the last national count. Smith's cumulative grade-point average has never fallen below 3.0, according to Darin Meeker, associate director of OSU's student-athlete support services.
``You have to manage your time very well,'' Smith said. ``It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it.''
Smith said he's currently carrying a 3.1, just below the average of 3.16 for all seniors who graduated with engineering degrees in 2005. He's on track to receive his bachelor's degree next spring.
``(Engineering) was a choice coming out of high school, I don't know really why,'' he said. ``I thought about changing my first year, but when I start something I like to finish it.''
He's not sure what track his career will take, perhaps more on the business side, which could include soliciting engineering jobs.
``I have a few more months to get it together,'' he said. ``I need to hurry up, huh?''
His teammates know he's already got it together. And they couldn't have been more thrilled Saturday when he intercepted a pass from Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli and ran it back with 1:07 to play.
``I was running with (him). I was a little tired, but it was the best feeling in the world,'' senior defensive end Jay Richardson said.
``That's always rewarding and encouraging to see a guy who came in here as a walk-on,'' junior wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez said. ``To finally become a starter and get to the point where he makes that interception and scores that touchdown, that's a tremendous feeling for him and a tremendous feeling for us who have been around him long enough to know how hard he really has worked.''
And what was his grandmother doing?
``From what my younger siblings tell me, she almost knocked someone out of the stands,'' Smith said. ``It feels good to see her happy.''
Smith said it seemed unreal Tuesday to be sitting at a table surrounded by reporters. He left open the possibility that there still might be a souvenir touchdown ball for Mattie Smith's living room, even if OSU sends him a bill for it.
``Maybe next time,'' he said.
Former walk-on wills his way
OSU senior cornerback Antonio Smith now a starter, makes big play
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
COLUMBUS - As he willed his legs to move as fast as they could on his 55-yard interception return, Antonio Smith had no time for flashbacks.
His vision was blurry. All he saw was a sea of scarlet in Ohio Stadium. He had no idea he punctuated his first career touchdown with a little high-stepping in the end zone. The only thought that crossed his mind was a tenet of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
``Make sure I give the ball to the official,'' Smith said.
So he did as he has been told.
Tressel would not have expected any less.
Thirty-nine OSU players who spent at least one season under Tressel have been drafted by NFL teams. After witnessing Smith's special moment in Saturday's 28-6 victory over Penn State, there was a sense that none of them embodies the values Tressel tries to teach as well as the senior cornerback from Beechcroft High School.
The touchdown might have capped Smith's incredible five-year journey at Ohio State. Or there could be more.
The Buckeyes rank No. 1 in the nation going into Saturday night's game at No. 13 Iowa, a nationally televised showdown (8 p.m., WEWS Ch. 5) of 4-0 teams. If they ever find themselves lacking inspiration in their bid for a national championship, they can look to the dreadlocked defensive back in their locker room.
Smith told the Columbus Dispatch his father left for California not long after he was born. While his mother, Monica, remained in Columbus, he was primarily raised by his grandmother, Mattie Smith. A two-year starter on defense at Beechcroft, Smith was the team's Most Valuable Player as a senior.
He was headed to the University of Hawaii until Beechcroft football coach Tom Dunlap contacted Tressel and persuaded him to take Smith in 2002 as a preferred walk-on. Already planning to major in mechanical engineering, Smith earned an academic scholarship through the Young Scholars program for minorities who are the first in their families to attend college. Unable to accept the $1,000 he received as a Dispatch scholar-athlete, he gave the money to Beechcroft's athletic department.
His first two years at OSU, Smith practiced with little reward. He redshirted as a freshman. In 2003, he played in three games and made one tackle. His biggest thrill was that he was twice named defensive scout team player of the week. He played in all 12 games in 2004 and '05 but played only on special teams.
In February, Tressel gave Smith an athletic scholarship. After spring practice, with the entire secondary gone and three defensive backs drafted, Smith emerged as the starter at boundary cornerback. Even then, the coaches weren't sure he would keep the spot come fall.
Not only did Smith hold off a host of young challengers, but he also earned the job of nickel back. Defensive coordinator Jim Heacock admitted two weeks ago he never could have imagined what Smith has done.
``It's a great example of good things happen to good people,'' Tressel said. ``Everyone said, `Antonio's a good guy, but he might never play here.' All of a sudden he was on special teams because he was the best at whatever he was asked to do. Then everyone said, `Well, Antonio might not end up being a starter,' and here he is.
``It just shows you that smart people with great passion, great toughness, can reach their goals.''
Through it all, Smith has excelled in the College of Engineering, which includes just fewer than 5,000 undergraduates and was the eighth-largest engineering school in the country at the last national count. Smith's cumulative grade-point average has never fallen below 3.0, according to Darin Meeker, associate director of OSU's student-athlete support services.
``You have to manage your time very well,'' Smith said. ``It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it.''
Smith said he's currently carrying a 3.1, just below the average of 3.16 for all seniors who graduated with engineering degrees in 2005. He's on track to receive his bachelor's degree next spring.
``(Engineering) was a choice coming out of high school, I don't know really why,'' he said. ``I thought about changing my first year, but when I start something I like to finish it.''
He's not sure what track his career will take, perhaps more on the business side, which could include soliciting engineering jobs.
``I have a few more months to get it together,'' he said. ``I need to hurry up, huh?''
His teammates know he's already got it together. And they couldn't have been more thrilled Saturday when he intercepted a pass from Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli and ran it back with 1:07 to play.
``I was running with (him). I was a little tired, but it was the best feeling in the world,'' senior defensive end Jay Richardson said.
``That's always rewarding and encouraging to see a guy who came in here as a walk-on,'' junior wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez said. ``To finally become a starter and get to the point where he makes that interception and scores that touchdown, that's a tremendous feeling for him and a tremendous feeling for us who have been around him long enough to know how hard he really has worked.''
And what was his grandmother doing?
``From what my younger siblings tell me, she almost knocked someone out of the stands,'' Smith said. ``It feels good to see her happy.''
Smith said it seemed unreal Tuesday to be sitting at a table surrounded by reporters. He left open the possibility that there still might be a souvenir touchdown ball for Mattie Smith's living room, even if OSU sends him a bill for it.
``Maybe next time,'' he said.
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