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A Receiver With A Knack For Giving

Alex Smith, Tight End

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Story by Chris Kuhn

Published: October 8, 2007

Alex Smith is happy to be moving into a new chapter of his young pro football career. "I remember my rookie year. It just seemed like everything was spinning and going a hundred miles per hour," the Buccaneers tight end says. "Now, I'm more relaxed and looking forward to it instead of stuck in that stage where you don't know what's going to happen."

As he begins a third year with the Bucs, Smith is eager to show everyone all that he can bring to the game. "I'm often put into this 'receiver-only' category. I'm trying to get to that point where I'm looked at as an all-purpose tight end," Smith says. "I take just as much pride knocking guys on the ground and blocking as I do catching."

As Bucs preseason camp begins, he has just returned from a month of rigorous physical training out west and a trip to the Bahamas with his father, former Denver Bronco and first-ever Bahamian NFL player Edwin Smith. While there, the 25-year-old completed his second annual football camp for youth in the Bahamas for which he serves as founder and host. He is proud of the program's success.

"This year, I brought with me some of my fellow Buccaneers and other guys in the league to take part," he says. "It's free of charge for the kids and really helps them better understand the fundamentals of the game as well as gives them real football experience."

Since being drafted in the third round by the Bucs in 2005, Smith has become quite a fixture in the Tampa Bay community, getting involved with several local charities, including Brandon Foundation, a large nonprofit network
of more than 30 Brandon groups that target the needs of Brandon children and families through community fundraising efforts. "I started working with them in 2006 and played in their celebrity golf tournament earlier this year. It benefits so many different organizations, and it's been a great opportunity to work with them." Smith also works frequently with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa.

When he's not on the field, Smith can be found enjoying the scenery. "I enjoy the water and all kinds of water activities, so any time I'm here, I try to take advantage of the beaches." He admits that if he weren't a professional football player, he'd probably spend most of his time on a golf course. Yet the one hidden talent that's garnered recent attention from his peers is how seriously he takes his video game play. "I'm the twotime
Madden Champ, so I've had a little bit of success with that," he states matter-of-factly and smiles.

Do any of his colleagues dare challenge him to a virtual duel? "No, I don't really play too many people on the team. Ike Hilliard sometimes," he says. "He lives a few houses down from me, so we see each other often and play video games. But he's still not a real challenge."

Like most players, Smith admits to having his own game day ritual. "I usually try to eat the same meal – an omelet and potatoes and waffles," he says. "I don't wear the same clothes or anything like that." The Bucs locker
room lends itself to a whimsy all of its own, though. According to Smith, there are those teammates you can count on making everyone laugh and those you can count on taking their time, such as WR Michael Clayton, who allegedly takes the longest to get ready after a game.

He replies with a shy smile to the inevitable question most single female Bucs fans want to ask (sorry, ladies – he has a girlfriend) and has been amused at just how far fans go to share their adoration and concern. "Once when I got hurt, I received a rubber ducky made of ice," he says.

Smith knows that he has many more years ahead of him and goals that extend far beyond the field. "I'd like to have a family," he says. "And learn how to be a better person all around."

To the young high school athletes in the Bay area, he offers a little advice. "It's all about your work ethic, not just on the football field, but academically as well," he says. "If you take care of business with your
academics, you can pretty much write your own scholarship and play for whomever you want to."

"Stay on top of your studies from the get-go, and it will make it a lot easier for you down the road."

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