Love and respect to big Trey Smith. His willingness to give his all will never be forgotten.
This makes me wish we all made sure he knew how much we appreciated him just being
on the field when he was putting his health at risk because I'm sure when the OL was getting criticized at times,
it didn't sound like the appreciation it should have.
Vol Nation loves you Trey and we're all grateful to you for the sacrifice you and your family made
to even play as long as you did and put it down for the Power T.
I haven't even read any of the details yet (just saw clots returned and out indefinitely) but you're
already a VFL as far as I'm concerned since you gave everything you could for as long as you could
all the way to the point doctors cautioned you. During a tough time when the program seemed like
it was being attacked from all sides and within at the same time, you always stood tall as an ambassador
I'm proud of and still am. Most of the educated football world viewed your name as synonymous with "Tennessee's best football player."
You already know all this, but too many times people don't share their true thoughts when they have the opportunity to do it first hand, so just know we're praying for your complete recovery and clean bill of health no matter what the future holds for you.
If one door should close, another one opens. Sometimes a man never discovers his true calling until a door to another path closes first.
You came to Tennessee as the #1 rated recruit and in that sense already a star, but you quickly became a star while at Tennessee too, demonstrating your talent for leadership on and off the field. You proved your highly rated status was every bit earned and then some these last couple of seasons. You're the same person off the football field as you are when you played the game so you don't stop being a star when you stop playing any more than you stop being Trey Smith. You keep your head up, big #73 and Tennessee fans will keep wanting the best for you. (No guarantees, but one of these days I'll learn how to express myself without sounding corny!)