Anthony Smith, retiring at 28

Remember this loud mouth?


Steelers 2006 third-round pick Anthony Smith looked to be emerging as Pittsburgh’s free safety of the future when he made 14 starts his first two seasons, collecting 97 tackles and intercepting four passes during that span. But Smith’s career took a nosedive after he unsuccessfully guaranteed a December 2007 win over the New England Patriots*.

The Patriots* torched the Steelers’ secondary in a 34-13 win, as quarterback Tom Brady passed for four touchdowns and 399 yards. And Smith’s career never recovered.

Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Saturday that Anthony Smith is now retiring from football, after bouncing between five teams the past four years. Smith’s career ends after six seasons and 76 games played, with 19 starts.

Smith was once a promising NFL safety who appeared destined to become Troy Polamalu’s long-term running mate in the back end of Pittsburgh’s vaunted defense. Unfortunately, the majority of those who remember Smith’s career will think of his failed guarantee and subsequent torching by Brady.

And it’s fair to wonder whether, had Smith bit his tongue, things might have worked out for him much differently.


http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...res-at-age-28/

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Farewell. I'll always remember your little highstep out of bounds and D.L. getting in your face.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: This guy won a Super Bowl with us in '08, and won again with the Packers in '10.

No loss there.

Anthony Smith will always be remembered for stupidly guaranteeing a win against the Patriots**. That "guarantee" was so overblown. He was a young player who didn't have a lot of experience in dealing with the media, and he was baited into saying the Steelers would win. Then the media tried to make it sound like he came out on his own and guaranteed victory. But that's not what happened at all ...




Full disclosure: Anthony Smith went to my high school, and I played baseball and raced BMX with his two oldest brothers, so I was always a little biased. I really wanted to see him succeed.

Watched the video. What's wrong with what he said? I've heard stuff like that come out of players mouths so often that if I had a dime for every time I heard something like that, I'D be retiring right now. The media DID bait him. I always liked the guy.

Well, the problem with it is, he said we'd win, and we got crushed. If you're going to open you're mouth, you best back it up, and in his case, he was burned by Brady, ALL DAY LONG.

Gingerchip wrote:

Watched the video. What's wrong with what he said? I've heard stuff like that come out of players mouths so often that if I had a dime for every time I heard something like that, I'D be retiring right now. The media DID bait him. I always liked the guy.

Wally said it. The media will spin it any way that benefits them.

The funny thing is, Wally works in the media

bayz101 wrote:

The funny thing is, Wally works in the media

Well..... "works" is an awfully strong word.

bayz101 wrote:

Well, the problem with it is, he said we'd win, and we got crushed. If you're going to open you're mouth, you best back it up, and in his case, he was burned by Brady, ALL DAY LONG.

But the attacks on him started before we got crushed. As soon as that interview aired, the media was all over it. Even Brady made a smartass response to it.

The reporter asked him: "What gives you the confidence to go out and guarantee a win in a game like this?"
This is just my guess, but I suspect the reporter heard Smith say that he guaranteed victory .... maybe to a teammate or just in passing. Whatever the case, Smith didn't say it during an interview. And when the reporter asked him how he could guarantee victory, I didn't have a problem with Smith's answer. What was he supposed to say .... "I don't. I think we're going to lose"?

The whole thing was overblown. The Patriots* pounded us, and Smith got torched. And that was that.