Big Man in the Desert
Matt Smith on his Journey from 'Bama to 'Zona
When I was a Highschool senior at Billingsley HS in Autauga County, Alabama, I had only recieved two athletic scholarships. The first one I received was a basketball scholarship from Kennesaw State, and that was to play power forward for one of the worst division one teams in the nation. At that time, I was 6'5 220 lbs, and although I excelled that season on the court, my real passion was to play football. And, half way through the season, the only football scholarship I had offered to me was from Alabama A&M. A few days before I was going to accept the offer, which was about a week before our teams first playoff game, I received a call at 10 p.m. on a tuesday from none other than Coach Nick Saban.
My whole life I grew up a 'Bama fan, and my family have been season-ticket holders since the 60's. I grew up with the Crimson Tide on my mind all year long. When I heard from Coach Saban, I was literally speechless. We talked for a good while, about my families history, about my aspirations to play football at the collegiate level, and how I was close to heading to A&M. That's when coach asked me if I wanted to come onto the squad as a preferred walk-on. He said he really liked my size and academic ability, and was really surprised that no FBS teams had talked to me. I immediately accepted. He wished me luck and said that he would talk to me as soon as my season was over.
When my freshman season began, The coaches were unsure of where to put me. I didn't have the size to be a Tightend, and wasn't fast enough to be a wideout. Those first few weeks of training camp were rough, and I was uncertain about whether or not I would last. When I finally got around to talking to Coach Saban about it, he made the decision to put me with the TE group. He gave me some words of encouragement and said in a year or two I would be given a spot on the special teams unit. This gave me new hope, and from that day on, I was the teams gym rat. I became obsessed with getting bigger, faster, stronger, smarter. I read about different players that defeated impossible odds and won awards after starting as walk ons. Penn States Carl Nassib, Wisconsins J.J. Watt. I knew it was possible and that hard work was the only way to get there.
Fast forward to my junior year. I shot up to 6'6, 255 lbs., and was an absolute beast. Everyone gave me respect, and my reputation as the gym rat evolved into me being the upperclassman iron man who many teammates came to for training and diet advice. This didn't go unnoticed by Coach Saban, and when that Spring Game depth chart hit, I was right there as the 5th Tight end. With my momentum growing, my confidence growing, I felt like there was no where to go from there but up.
three games into that season, our two starting Tight ends were injured. that left me as the third stringer, and also the most veteran Tight end remaining. As unfortunate as it was to see my teammates injured, I was starry eyed at the opportunity to finally get on the field at my position. My first game, I played seven or eight snaps, and caught one pass which was a first down on a 3rd and 5 in the redzone. That was the last snap I played the rest of the game, and we went on to win by a touchdown. The rest of the season, I was in for mostly run plays, and by seasons end I had 9 catches for 81 yards on 9 targets. At the end of the season, Coach Saban awarded me with a full scholarship. That was one of the happiest days for me and my family.
Senior year was when things got interested.
With two Tightends graduating, and another guy transferring, I was now battling with one guy who was a year younger than me, and a couple of redshirt freshman. Since I had kept up my crazy gym routine, and was now faster than ever, I won the first string spot. The quarterback was my roommate, I had a great relationship with my coaches, and this being my fifth year in the program, I knew the 'Bama offense inside and out. Game after game we were winning decisively. We were scoring at will, and I'll tell you what, everybody was having a hard time defending me. I could cut so crisp on my routes that linebackers would fall over, and could box out defensive backs as if they were still in high school. They called me Crimson Gronk , and I didn't mind at all.We went on to win the national championship, beating Ohio State, and I was the first guy to lift the crystal ball. Magic is a real thing, my brothers and sisters. Just work hard and believe in yourself, and the rest will follow. I caught 12 touchdowns that year and was the teams 2nd leading reciever. When I graduated, I knew my journey wasn't over. The only thing on my mind was the NFL combine, and becoming an even greater athlete in this beautiful game of football.
To be continued.
