Detron Nigel Smith (born February 25, 1974) is a former American football fullback in the

NFL 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 major ...

. After his college career at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, he moved to the NFL and played primarily for 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 headquart ...

. He was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 1999.

High school and college

Smith was a consensus Texas Top 100 selection at

Lake Highlands High School Lake Highlands High School (LHHS) is a secondary school serving grades 9-12 in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independent Sc ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and was rated the second-best fullback prospect in the Southwest, receiving a perfect score of 10 points on Max Emfinger's Blue Chip List. During his career at Lake Highlands, he carried the ball 181 times for 1,351 yards (7.5 yards per carry) and scored 15 touchdowns. Smith was primarily a blocking back during his career at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, creating holes for future

running backs

Rodney Thomas Rodney Dejuane Thomas (March 30, 1973 – June 14, 2014) was a professional American football player who played running back for seven seasons for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, and Atlanta Falcons. Thomas was the cousin of former NFL sa ...

, Greg Hill, and

Leeland McElroy Leeland Anthony McElroy (born June 25, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a running back and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the 1990s. He played college football for t ...

. He rushed 57 times for 184 yards (3.2 yards per carry) and one touchdown, while catching 33 passes for 300 yards (9.1 yards per catch) with a long of 35 yards. Smith also returned five kickoffs for 54 yards. During his first two years at A&M (1992–93), Smith's running backs coach was his future Broncos offensive coordinator and current

head coach

Gary Kubiak Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is a former American football coach and quarterback. He served as head coach for the NFL's Houston Texans from 2006 Houston Texans season, 2006 to 2013 Houston Texans season, 2013 and the Denver Broncos f ...

. Smith made a key block on a McElroy touchdown in the 1993 game against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

that secured the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

title for the Aggies.

NFL

Smith was the first blocking fullback selected when he was drafted in the 3rd round (65th overall) of the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 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 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

by the

, and the second true fullback behind only Tampa Bay's

Mike Alstott Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973), is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college football at Purdue an ...

. In April 2002, after six seasons in Denver, Smith was signed 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 ...

. However, he was released before making an appearance and played for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in 2002 and 2003. He was released by the Colts in early 2004. During his tenure in the NFL, Smith was known as a high energy player who would sacrifice his body on blocking and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

alike. With both the Broncos and

, Smith instantly became a fan favorite with his big hits on special teams and willingness to do the little things. In total, he played in 113 games over 8 seasons, highlighted by his selection to the

1999 and two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

rings won with the Broncos (

Super Bowl XXXII Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers (who were defending their Super Bowl XXXI championship) and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver B ...

in 1997 and

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atla ...

in 1998).

References

External links

ESPN page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Detron 1974 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas American football fullbacks Texas A&M Aggies football players Denver Broncos players Indianapolis Colts players American Conference Pro Bowl players