Daryl Lamont Smith (born March 14, 1982) 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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. 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 pla ...

in the second round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 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 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. He played college football at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Smith has also played for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

College career

Smith attended

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. At Georgia Tech, he was a four-year

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and a team captain who led the team in tackles for two of his four years. He started 44 of 46 games while at Georgia Tech, recording 383 tackles, 15 sacks, and three interceptions.Daryl Smith
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Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

The

selected Smith in the second round (39th overall) of the

. He was the fifth linebacker drafted in 2004. On July 24, 2004, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Smith to a four-year, $3.25 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $952,000. In his rookie season, he started 13 games and played in 15, but was slowed by a knee injury in the middle of the season. However, he still managed to finish eighth on the team in tackles with 78, and record two sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery. Has started 90 of 92 games and missed only three games due to injuries. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in the first week of the 2010 NFL Season for a performance against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

that included 7 tackles and an interception that sealed the win for the Jaguars. On November 28, 2010, Smith became the Jacksonville Jaguars all-time leader in tackles, surpassing former safety Donovin Darius. Daryl Smith has passed the 100 tackle mark in seven straight years as of 2011. Smith missed the first six games of the 2012 season due to injury. He was placed on the injured reserve-designated for return list on October 25, meaning he was eligible to return in week 15. He returned to play the New England Patriots in week 16 and recorded four tackles. Smith became a free agent on March 12, 2013.

Baltimore Ravens

Smith signed a one-year contract with the defending

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

champions

on June 5, 2013. The signing was meant to strengthen the Ravens' Inside Linebacker core following

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who played as a middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the National Football League (NFL). He played co ...

' retirement, and losing Dannell Ellerbe to free agency. Smith soon took control of the starting job. During Week 3 of the regular season, he had his first interception return for a touchdown in a 30–9 victory against the Houston Texans. On December 9, 2013, he broke Ray Lewis' franchise record for most pass deflections in a single season (17) with 19. Smith ended his first season in Baltimore with a team leading 123 tackles and erased any doubts about his ability to still play at a high level after the injury that kept him sidelined most of the 2012 seaso
^[5
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sup>/sup> On March 14, 2014, his 32nd birthday, Smith re-signed with the Ravens on a four-year, $16.1 million contract. Smith recorded 118 tackles, 3 sacks, and an interception in the 2015 season for the Baltimore Ravens. On March 3, 2016, he was released by the Ravens.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On March 17, 2016, Smith signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Bucs Add LB Daryl Smith to Defense
/ref>

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Daryl 1982 births Living people American football middle linebackers American football outside linebackers Jacksonville Jaguars players Baltimore Ravens players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from Albany, Georgia