Marcus Smith II (born March 31, 1992) 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 ...

outside 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

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the first round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

, and 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 ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

High school

Smith attended

Hardaway High School Hardaway High School is located in Columbus, Georgia, Columbus, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, in the Muscogee County School District. It is one of 221 schools in the state to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme ...

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

. He played

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 ...

for Hardaway, passing for more than 1,800 yards and 14 touchdowns, while adding 227 yards rushing and four touchdowns. As a senior, he was selected to the 2009 AAAA All-Region Second-team. He was considered a three-star recruit by ''

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''.

College career

Smith attended the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

from 2010 to 2013. As a senior in 2013, he recorded 42 tackles, including 18.5 for loss, and 14.5 sacks, which was second nationally. He was named a third-team All-American by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. He was also a first-team All-

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York * American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...

and was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Smith was selected 26th overall, by the

in the first round of the

. In the 2014 season, Smith was on the field for eight of the team's 16 games. On May 1, 2017, the Eagles declined to exercise the fifth-year option on Smith's contract. On July 26, 2017, Smith was waived by the Eagles.

Seattle Seahawks

On July 28, 2017, Smith signed with 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 October 1, 2017, after

Cliff Avril Clifford Samuel Avril (born April 8, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Purdue and was drafted in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He has also played for the Seattle Seahaw ...

suffered a neck injury against 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 ...

, Smith was forced into the starting defensive line rotation early in the game. He responded with the finest game of his career, recording 1.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble on Colts QB

Jacoby Brissett Jacoby Jajuan Brissett (born December 11, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Following a college football stint with Florida, he played at NC State and was selected in the t ...

. On March 22, 2018, Smith re-signed with the Seahawks. He was released on August 17, 2018.

Washington Redskins

On December 4, 2018, Smith signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, but was waived on December 15, 2018. He was re-signed on December 27, 2018. Smith was waived on August 31, 2019, for final roster cuts before the start of the 2019 season.

Literature

On December 2, 2020, Smith released a children's book titled ''Bathtime with Rai.''

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Marcus II 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Columbus, Georgia American football defensive ends Louisville Cardinals football players Philadelphia Eagles players Seattle Seahawks players Washington Redskins players American football outside linebackers