RB Robert Smith (B1G Freshman of Year, 2x Pro Bowler, All Pro)

[Padraig]

You are, of course, entitled to your view on Smith. And... I never recall meeting him on campus (like you, I was there at the time). But.. that said, I don't know that Smith was a prima-donna. He might have handled things differently, but if I recall his main problem was that he wanted to take a harder course load than is typical and his coaches were concerned it would cut into his time for football.

Huh, I was a Freshman during Robert Smith's last year was in school (I think) and he seemed to be a very hard worker from my perspective.....always studying during training table & such. I know that doesn't directly translate to the practice field, but I also recall hearing his troubles with the coaches were with football related activities cutting too much into his studies (didn't he quit the team for a couple quarters because of this also?)

Anyway, didn't want to detract from the glory of Herbie's thread, but found the Smith comment interesting. Carry on.

 

[buckiprof]

Huh, I was a Freshman during Robert Smith's last year was in school (I think) and he seemed to be a very hard worker from my perspective.....always studying during training table & such. I know that doesn't directly translate to the practice field, but I also recall hearing his troubles with the coaches were with football related activities cutting too much into his studies (didn't he quit the team for a couple quarters because of this also?)

Anyway, didn't want to detract from the glory of Herbie's thread, but found the Smith comment interesting. Carry on.

Basically yes.

Smith was not a prima donna feeling he didn't need to practice as much as others. Amazingly, he realized he was a student-athlete and wanted to get the most out of being a student. I know several of his former high school teachers and all have commented on what a great student he was and that he took his studies seriously.

Now the coaching staff at that time (and it is important to remember Coop was the head coach), viewed academics a little differently than the current staff. Basically, academics at times got in the way of football. Classes, mainting a certain GPA, making satisfactory progress towards a degree....these were all inconveniences.

This was towards the end of my time at OSU. As a course coordinator for a mathematics course at OSU, I had to deal with some issues. I became quite familiar with the attitude coming from the football program towards academics and it was quite disturbing. The cheating situation I had to deal with involving a DL and a walk-on (felt bad for the walk-on, he knew what he was doing was wrong but was encouraged to "help" the DL) shed light on things. Simply put, Coop had to be told that the DL was unable to play in the bowl game. Coop knew what he did (or what he had the walk-on do) and wasn't going to administer any punishment.

It was in this environment that Robert Smith wanted to get somewhere academically. When strongly urged to not let it interfere with his football, he said he wouldn't play. I believe he sat out 1991 after playing in 1990 (leading the team in rushing) and came back in 1992. Pretty ballsy for a kid to do that and I still have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a result of that.

Sorry to derail the latest Herbie news, but like Padraig, I found the Robert Smith comment interesting and somewhat misguided.

 

[Buckskin86]

The healthy choice: Robert Smith left the NFL 10 years ago to avoid the health problems many retired players are facing
Published: Friday, February 04, 2011
By Mark Podolski
[email protected]

Jim Mone/Associated Press
Robert Smith, shown scoring a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 19, 2000, left an estimated $20 million on the table when he retired from the NFL after the 2000 season.

When Robert Smith isn't on the road traveling for work, he wakes up each morning at his South Florida home with a hop in his step.

He's happily married and the proud father of a seven-month old daughter. That hop in his step? Smith is convinced that wouldn't be possible had he not made the decision ... the right decision a decade ago.

Monday will mark 10 years since Smith surprisingly and, to some, shockingly, retired from the NFL as a Minnesota Viking at age 28 with millions of dollars left to potentially earn.

Those millions didn't matter. Today, Smith is one of the lucky ones, a former NFL player whose injuries aren't debilitating. Money could never buy back what he feared he might lose had he played into his 30s: His health.

"I couldn't be happier (with my health) considering what I went through for eight years," Smith said in a phone interview with The News-Herald. "My right knee gets sore for a while when the weather turns and my right foot is sore every once in a while, but that's about it. I feel lucky."

There aren't many NFL running backs who retire on top, but Smith is one. Only the Giants' Tiki Barber and the Browns' Jim Brown can boast of a better statistical season in their final year in the NFL.

Barber rushed for 1,662 yards for New York in 2006 at age 31, and Brown 1,544 yards in 14 games in 1965 at age 29. Smith led the NFC in rushing with 1,521 yards in 2000, the only season the Euclid graduate and former Ohio State star played a full 16-game NFL season.

Cont...

http://news-herald.com/articles/2011/02/04/sports/nh3606981.txt?viewmode=fullstory

 

[Buckskin86]

Blog: Robert Smith chimes in on OSU controversy
Published: Thursday, May 26, 2011
Mark Podolski
[email protected]

Euclid graduate, former Ohio State running back and now ESPN college football analyst Robert Smith has strong comments about the Jim Tressel scandal amid comments from Ray Small in OSU's student newspaper, The Lantern.

Small told the newspaper, "Everybody does it," as in receiving improper benefits as a Buckeye football player from 2006 to 2010. Small said he sold items such as his Big Ten championship ring for money and received "deals" from a Columbus auto dealer.

On ESPN's College Football Live on Thursday, former Buckeye Malcolm Jenkins came to the defense of Tressel, saying, "Not everyboy does it," as in taking improper benefits, and said it's impossible for Tressel to know what every player within the program is doing.

Smith then chimed in on ESPN, and from his view point, the future of Tressel does not look promising.

"I'm not sure if (Thursday) is the turning point, but the turn has happened," said Smith.

Cont...

http://news-herald.com/articles/2011/05/26/sports/doc4ddebf8b17e4d593785824.txt

 

[Buckskin86]

Robert Smith radio interview

 

[Buckskin86]

 

[Buckskin86]

 

[Buckskin86]

Robert with a little Buckeye love...

 

[Buckskin86]

The News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame: Robert Smith (with slideshow)
Published: Friday, June 21, 2013
By John Kampf
[email protected]
@NHPreps

Ninth and final in a series profiling the members of the 2013 News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame. Robert Smith will be honored during a halftime ceremony at The N-H Senior Bowl June 21.

Somebody in the crowd knew what they were talking about.

As young Robert Smith, a sixth-grader at the time, walked off the field following yet another dominating performance for St. Felicitas, one of the parents got Smith's attention.

"You're going to play for the Browns someday," the parent yelled out to Smith.

The prognostication wasn't 100 percent accurate ? Smith didn't end up playing for the Browns, but rather, the Minnesota Vikings ? but the intent of the comment was spot-on.

Smith, even at that age, was good ? and greatness was before them.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it a little bit," Smith said. "But it never dominated my thoughts."

Rather, the domination was on the field, where Smith went on to be the first two-time winner of Ohio's Associated Press Mr. Football Award as a Euclid Panther, went on to a distinguished football and track career at Ohio State and played eight years in the NFL.

It's his stellar high school career, which Smith used as a springboard to greater things later in his life, that has made him a member of The 2013 News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame.

"It was a blast," Smith said of his playing days at Euclid, from recreation leagues through his career with the Panthers. "When you are young and competing, it's a learning experience. And it's a lot of fun."

cont...

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2013/06/21/sports/nh7113586.txt?viewmode=fullstory

 

[Buckskin86]

Mark Podolski: ESPN's Robert Smith says it'll be Alabama-Ohio State
Published: Sunday, July 14, 2013
By Mark Podolski
[email protected]
@mpodo

Robert Smith returns to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn. in August to resume his role as college football analyst but he's already set with his national championship game prediction.

"It looks like an Ohio State-Alabama matchup to me," Smith said in a phone interview with The News-Herald. "I have to give the edge to Alabama because of the experience and having been through that situation, and their level of competition all year long. (Alabama and Ohio State) definitely shape up as 1-2 right now."

cont...

http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/07/14/sports/nh7258281.txt?viewmode=fullstory

 

[Buckskin86]

picks Bucks and Bama in NC game..

 

[Buckskin86]

The No. 1 Northeast Ohio high school football player over past 50 years is ... Euclid RB Robert Smith as PD50 series concludes
Plain Dealer Top 50 Former Euclid running back Robert Smith is considered one of the greatest high school football players in the area over the past 50 years.
By Branson Wright, The Plain Dealer
August 23, 2013

EUCLID, Ohio - Robert Smith on a recent Saturday morning took a stroll inside the football stadium that produced so many personal memories and so much joy for the Euclid fans who packed the place to watch him play.

What they saw from 1987-89 was the No. 1-ranked high school football player in The Plain Dealer's seven-county coverage area over the past 50 years, as decided this summer by a panel formed by The PD. Smith's combination of vision and warp speed produced some of the most memorable long runs in Northeast Ohio high school history.

"He's the greatest running back I've ever seen or experienced," said Smith's former Euclid coach, Tom Banc. "He had so many big long runs in pro football, and imagine what it was like in high school. We had a rule ? any time Robert got into the secondary, no one was allowed to block, for fear of a stupid penalty that would call the play back. Once he got into the secondary, we knew no one would be able to catch him."

Smith gave fans a preview of what was to come as a sophomore in his first varsity game when he scored on a 50-yard run. In his second varsity game, he rushed 10 times for 171 yards and touchdown runs of 56 and 82 yards. Smith opened his senior year with four long touchdown runs the first four times he touched the ball. Fans also remember the long touchdown run in a game against Eastlake North in which Smith changed direction five times.

Smith, who also ran track, made these sprints on the field his trademark.

He reached a speed few could imagine.

"I started that long run right there," said Smith, peering at the field while recalling one of countless signature plays. "Long runs are exciting. It gives you a rush. I describe it like leaning back in a chair and you almost fall and then there's that burst of adrenalin. It's like that in a good way."

cont...

http://www.cleveland.com/hssports/blog/index.ssf/2013/08/the_no_1_northeast_ohio_high_s.html

 

[MaxBuck]

Robert remains the most exciting running back I've ever seen in a Buckeye uniform; he had real home-run ability every time he touched the football.

I'm hoping he'll no longer be the most exciting after this year's freshman are finished!

:osu:

 

[Buckskin86]

Robert Smith speaks about issues with alcohol

Associated Press file
In this Nov. 30, 2000, file photo, Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith leaves the field after the Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 24-17. On Nov. 1, 2013, Smith spoke for the first time about his issues with alcohol on ESPN.

By Mark Podolski, The News-Herald

Posted: 11/01/13

In a revealing and startling interview on ESPN on Friday, former Euclid High, Ohio State and Minnesota Vikings standout running back Robert Smith spoke for the first time about his issues with alcohol.

Smith, who won the Associated Press Mr. Football award in 1989 and ’90, discussed growing up with a “drug-dealing” father, and admitted he is an alcoholic.

“The house was chaotic, and as I grew up I had a basic understanding of what addiction was, and I knew it was inheritable,” Smith said on ESPN. “I did my best to stay away from it early.”

During the interview, Smith said his addiction to alcohol began at Ohio State and increased during his stellar career with the Vikings. When he retired after the 2000 season, he was Minnesota’s all-time leading rusher. In 2012, Adrian Peterson surpassed Smith.

Smith said during his ESPN interview after his playing days were complete he sought counseling, and for a period was sober, but he eventually went back to drinking.

“I think that’s the difficult part of mental illness,” Smith said. “You have a mind that’s telling you that you don’t have a problem. And you start to feel better, then you feel you don’t need (counseling) anymore. You have a period of sobriety, and you think you’re cured, but you don’t graduate from alcoholics school.

“Alcohol beat me into submission. I went a number of rounds with alcohol and alcohol kept winning, and I kept trying to get my stubborn self back up and trying to fight it.”

cont...

http://www.news-herald.com/sports/20131101/robert-smith-speaks-about-issues-with-alcohol

 

[Buckskin86]