D'Anthony Smith (born June 9, 1988) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

and Super Bowl 48 Champion with the Seattle Seahawks. He was drafted by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

in the third round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

after receiving a Division-1 Athletic Scholarship.

Early years

Smith was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but eventually moved to

Fort Polk, Louisiana Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville, Louisiana, Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder, Louisiana, DeRidder in ...

. At Pickering High School, Smith competed in three sports,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He started all four years at the school, and every year but one, he received an award for his play on the defensive line. As a senior, he had 80 tackles and three sacks.

College career

In his collegiate debut as a true freshman in 2006, Smith intercepted a pass that was deflected by another player against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. Smith overall, started eight games and came off the bench in five for the Bulldogs and had 38 tackles. His career high in tackles came against

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

when he had seven, he also had five against

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. Against Fresno State as a sophomore in 2007, Smith equaled his total from the season before with five tackles, but also added a sack on their

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Tom Brandstater Thomas Brandstater (born October 21, 1984) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round of the 2009 NF ...

. For the season, he started 11 games and missed one due to injury and had 42 tackles and three sacks. Smith tied his career high in tackles with seven against

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of ...

. Against

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

in 2008, Smith had seven tackles and one sack. Heading into the

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bowl ...

against

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...

, he led the team with five sacks and was third with 65 tackles. He was named as a member of the First-team All- WAC following the regular season. For the season, he had nine tackles on two occasions and was named All-Louisiana. He started every one of the Bulldogs's 13 games. In 2009, Smith was listed at No. 11 on ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

′s'' preseason defensive tackle power ranking. He was also named to the 2009

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

watch list.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Smith was drafted by the

in the third round (74th overall) of the

. He spent his first two NFL seasons on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. He registered his first career tackle in the Jaguars' 2012 season opener against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on November 28, 2012.

Seattle Seahawks

The Jaguars announced that Smith was one of their final preseason cuts on August 30, 2013. However, before the team had officially submitted their cuts, Smith was traded to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

on August 31 for a conditional draft pick. He was released by the Seahawks on September 24, 2013.

Detroit Lions

The Lions claimed Smith off waivers on September 25, 2013, and released him on October 2.

Seattle Seahawks (second stint)

Smith was re-signed by the

to their practice squad on October 5, 2013. Smith re-signed with Seattle on March 19, 2015. On August 31, 2015, Smith was cut by the Seahawks during the preseason.

Chicago Bears

On October 13, 2015, the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

signed Smith to their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 22. On May 2, 2016, the Bears released Smith.

Retirement

After retiring from the NFL, Dr. D'Anthony Smith earned credentials as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC). He completed a Doctorate of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with Specialization in Sport & Performance Psychology (2020). Dr. D'Anthony Smith completed his dissertation entitled: ''The Autonomous Response & Its Impact on Performance Expectancy In Athletes'', at the University of Western States, Portland, Oregon. He is a member of the National Football Association, the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, the National Strength and Conditioning Society, the International Coach Federation, and the American Counseling Association. As a self-employed founder and Licensed Clinical Sports Counselor, Dr. D'Anthony Smith supports young athletes by providing sports counseling, mental performance training, and sports life coaching a
Unleash! Mental Performance

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioJacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, D'Anthony 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Berlin People from Leesville, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football defensive tackles Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Seattle Seahawks players Detroit Lions players Chicago Bears players