Antowain Drurell Smith (born March 14, 1972) is a former
American Football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
who played nine NFL seasons, most notably with the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
, with whom he won two Super Bowls, and the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
. At 6'2", 232 pounds, Smith's powerful running style made him an effective runner between the tackles.
High school career
Smith attended
Stanhope Elmore High School
Stanhope Elmore High School is a grades 9– 12 school in Millbrook, Alabama, United States. As part of the Elmore County Public School System, the school is the Home of the Mustangs, Foshee-Henderson Stadium, and the Pride of Millbrook Marchi ...
in
Millbrook, Alabama
Millbrook is a city in Autauga County, Alabama, Autauga and Elmore County, Alabama, Elmore counties in the U.S. state, State of Alabama. The population was 14,640 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the Montgomery, Alaba ...
and played football only in his senior year.
College career
Smith worked in a factory for two years before enrolling at
East Mississippi Junior College
East Mississippi Community College (EMCC), formerly East Mississippi Junior College, is a public community college in Scooba, Mississippi. EMCC serves and is supported by Clay, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha counties in e ...
in 1993. At East Mississippi, Smith was a JUCO All-American running back. In 1995, Smith transferred to the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
and played two seasons on the
Houston Cougars football
The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" (spoken as "U of H"). The UH football program is a member of the Big 1 ...
team at running back. In 21 games with Houston, Smith rushed for 1,847 yards and 19 touchdowns. Among records set by Smith include the longest touchdown in school history at 96 yards and six touchdowns in one game.
In his senior season, Smith rushed for 1,239 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also catching 28 passes for 201 yards and another score.
Professional career
Antowain Smith was drafted in the first round of the
1997 NFL Draft
The 1997 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount T ...
by the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
. In his rookie season Smith ran for 840 yards and 8 touchdowns with also catching 28 passes. The next season Smith ran for 1,124 yards and again scored 8 times, although his yards per carry dropped from 4.3 to 3.7. Smith gained just 27 total yards in the Bills first round playoff loss in 1998. The next season was disappointing and saw Smith score 6 times while rushing for just 614 yards. He did manage to run for 79 yards and two scores in the Bill's first round playoff game but the Bills still lost to the
Titans
In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Ga ...
. Having fallen out of favor with the coaching staff Smith ran for just 354 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2000.
The next season Smith rejuvenated his professional career when he joined the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
. He ran for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season. He also ran for 204 yards in the playoffs as the Patriots won
Super Bowl XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
. The iconic moment of him being the first Patriot to run onto the field after
Adam Vinatieri
Adam Matthew Vinatieri (born December 28, 1972) is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 24 seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Considered one of the greatest kick ...
kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired is what Smith is remembered for the most in his career. Smith's numbers dropped off a bit in 2002 as he ran for 982 yards and 6 touchdowns. He did get more involved in the passing game however, and caught 31 balls including 2 touchdowns. 2003 was Smith's final season in New England and he managed just 642 yards, although he still led the team in rushing. His play improved in the playoffs that year as he ran for 252 yards and 2 scores as Smith and the Patriots won their second Super Bowl championship,
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...
.
Smith joined the Titans for 2004 and he ran for 509 yards. It was the only season in his career in which he failed to record a single 100 yard game. Smith played his final NFL season in 2005, with the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
, running for 659 yards and 3 scores. For his career Smith played in 131 games, running for 6,881 yards and 54 touchdowns, good for 50th and 44th on the all-time lists respectively.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Antowain
1972 births
Living people
People from Millbrook, Alabama
Players of American football from Alabama
African-American players of American football
American football running backs
New Orleans Saints players
Tennessee Titans players
New England Patriots players
Buffalo Bills players
Houston Texans players
Houston Cougars football players
East Mississippi Lions football players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American sportspeople