Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith spends last football days in CFL, holding spot Tim Tebow doesn't want
MONTREAL – Deep inside an old stadium, on top of a hill, in another country, Troy Smith couldn't see his locker. He knew the wooden cubicle, where he dropped his clothes
hours before his Montreal Alouettes lost a football game to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. But the game had been over for a long time now, and because the CFL is not the NFL or even the Big Ten, accommodations aren't what he might expect. The athletic trainers needed to store medical equipment, so they left in front of Smith's locker.
Troy Smith's plans after he's done in the CFL: A return to Ohio State. (Facebook via Montreal Alouettes)
Not that many years ago, Smith held college football in his hand. He wore a charcoal three-piece suit with a tie in Ohio State colors and clutched the Heisman Tro phy. But on Monday afternoon, that New York night in 2006 seemed like it was from another lifetime. He stepped around the medical equipment and slowly began to pull off the uniform he must have never thought he'd wear in those heady days of conference titles and a national championship game.
"It's another chance," he said. "It's humbling. It's a blessing and I'm having fun."
He laughed.
He got his first real chance to play in this strange new league on Monday. Alouettes coach Jim Popp threw him into a game that was quickly falling away in the second quarter and he led Montreal to a touchdown. The scoring pass was a bullet into the chest of receiver S.J. Green, who did everything to hold onto the ball as he fell over the goal line.
In the next possession, Smith was hit as he threw, the ball wobbled hopelessly into the arms of a Winnipeg defender and Smith's day was essentially done.
Later, as he sat on the cubicle's bench pulling off his pads, the interception lingered, leaving him shaking his head.
"What's that?" a teammate asked glancing at him.
"That interception I threw," Smith said. "I wish I could have it back."
The man nodded. Smith pulled off his jersey, revealing a black T-shirt with the Ohio State logo on the chest. The football memories after college have not been great. The Baltimore Ravens briefly gave him a shot before turning to Joe Flacco. He had a brief glorious run in San Francisco until he was benched for Alex Smith. The UFL's Omaha Nighthawks barely gave him a chance and the Pittsburgh Steelers cut him before training camp in 2012.
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