SNAFU
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Some snippets from an article in the Athletic
-As the rounds passed, Trey “freaked out,” in his words, thinking he wasn’t destined for the NFL after all. He questioned himself. Was he good enough? Did he play well enough to justify a team taking a risk? Did he do all he could have to put himself in the best position he could have? After 225 players had been chosen, the Chiefs picked Trey in the sixth round. By his first training camp practice, he was running with the first team.
-Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has called the 328-pounder “the enforcer” of the offense. NFL Network analyst and former guard Brian Baldinger goes further. “When you’re looking at the best guards in the NFL, do they get any better than Trey Smith?”
-In Trey’s second year, the Chiefs ran a screen pass in Denver. When linebacker Josey Jewell tried to shoot the A gap, Trey, with a cross-body swat from his right arm, gave him a taste of the dirt. Then Trey sprinted straight at safety Justin Simmons, obliterated him and cleared the space for running back Jerick McKinnon to take the ball into the end zone. In subsequent seasons when the Chiefs have installed the play, they have shown that clip, which invariably has gotten an enthusiastic reaction from Trey’s teammates. “It’s always fun to watch it,” Humphrey says.
-Trey finds inspiration watching tape of guards known for pushing the boundaries, such as Richie Incognito, Ryan Jensen and Quenton Nelson. “I want to play the game with bad intentions but within the confines of the rulebook,” he says. “I play to be violent and to release my emotions.”
-He tied for the team lead in snaps this season and in his career has missed only one game because of injury out of 78. He has not taken blood thinners for the most part since he’s been in the league, and he hasn’t had any more clots.
-In some ways, he is the quintessential Chief. But he might not be for long. Trey’s rookie contract will expire after the season. Pro Football Focus rates him as the No. 2 upcoming free agent at any position. The expectation is the 25-year-old will become the highest-paid guard in the league. The question is who will be writing the checks?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/58...chiefs-defensive-coordinator-steve-spagnuolo/
-It’s not as if he’s planning to buy a yacht or a jet. “I’ll be honest with you,” he says. “I’m just a country boy from Tennessee and there’s not a whole lot I necessarily want. I just need a little land where there is quiet space.”
-He may have that already. He and Ashley (after spending training camp with the Chiefs and her brother, Ashley became a player engagement manager for the NFL), who are believed to be the only brother and sister ever employed by the NFL, inherited their grandfather’s 150-acre farm. It’s been vacant for nearly a decade, and he plans to clear the land and use the property for turkey hunting and off-roading. It’s a dream he does not take for granted. He doesn’t take anything for granted. How could he?
For those of us who watched Trey while at UT, we knew the Chiefs got a steal if he could stay healthy.
-As the rounds passed, Trey “freaked out,” in his words, thinking he wasn’t destined for the NFL after all. He questioned himself. Was he good enough? Did he play well enough to justify a team taking a risk? Did he do all he could have to put himself in the best position he could have? After 225 players had been chosen, the Chiefs picked Trey in the sixth round. By his first training camp practice, he was running with the first team.
-Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has called the 328-pounder “the enforcer” of the offense. NFL Network analyst and former guard Brian Baldinger goes further. “When you’re looking at the best guards in the NFL, do they get any better than Trey Smith?”
-In Trey’s second year, the Chiefs ran a screen pass in Denver. When linebacker Josey Jewell tried to shoot the A gap, Trey, with a cross-body swat from his right arm, gave him a taste of the dirt. Then Trey sprinted straight at safety Justin Simmons, obliterated him and cleared the space for running back Jerick McKinnon to take the ball into the end zone. In subsequent seasons when the Chiefs have installed the play, they have shown that clip, which invariably has gotten an enthusiastic reaction from Trey’s teammates. “It’s always fun to watch it,” Humphrey says.
-Trey finds inspiration watching tape of guards known for pushing the boundaries, such as Richie Incognito, Ryan Jensen and Quenton Nelson. “I want to play the game with bad intentions but within the confines of the rulebook,” he says. “I play to be violent and to release my emotions.”
-He tied for the team lead in snaps this season and in his career has missed only one game because of injury out of 78. He has not taken blood thinners for the most part since he’s been in the league, and he hasn’t had any more clots.
-In some ways, he is the quintessential Chief. But he might not be for long. Trey’s rookie contract will expire after the season. Pro Football Focus rates him as the No. 2 upcoming free agent at any position. The expectation is the 25-year-old will become the highest-paid guard in the league. The question is who will be writing the checks?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/58...chiefs-defensive-coordinator-steve-spagnuolo/
-It’s not as if he’s planning to buy a yacht or a jet. “I’ll be honest with you,” he says. “I’m just a country boy from Tennessee and there’s not a whole lot I necessarily want. I just need a little land where there is quiet space.”
-He may have that already. He and Ashley (after spending training camp with the Chiefs and her brother, Ashley became a player engagement manager for the NFL), who are believed to be the only brother and sister ever employed by the NFL, inherited their grandfather’s 150-acre farm. It’s been vacant for nearly a decade, and he plans to clear the land and use the property for turkey hunting and off-roading. It’s a dream he does not take for granted. He doesn’t take anything for granted. How could he?
For those of us who watched Trey while at UT, we knew the Chiefs got a steal if he could stay healthy.
