Robert Scott Smith (born March 4, 1972) is an American

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 ...

analyst for Fox Sports and the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...

. He played professionally as a

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 ...

(NFL) for eight seasons with 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 ...

, and played college football for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

High school career

Born and raised in

Euclid, Ohio Euclid is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner ring suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 49,692. History The City of Euclid was originally a part of Euclid Township, first map ...

, a suburb on the northeastern border of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Smith became the first player to win Ohio's Mr. Football Award twice (in 1988 and 1989). junior at Euclid High School, he gained 1,564 yards on 177 rushes (8.8 yards per carry) and averaged 31 yards on 10 punt returns. senior season in 1989, he gained 2,042 yards on 203 carries and scored 31 touchdowns and was awarded the Bobby Dodd National Back of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. During his Panthers' career, he rushed for a total of 5,038 yards on 548 carries with 67 touchdowns. In track and field, Smith posted personal best times of 10.68 seconds in the 100 meters, 21.10 seconds in the 200 meters, and 46.41 seconds in the 400 meters.

College career

Smith narrowed his college choices to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. In his two seasons with the Buckeyes Smith ran for a total of 1,945 yards, leading the team both years. freshman in 1990, he had a personal-best per game), and rushed for Smith sat out the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

football season, switching to a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

scholarship, and posted a personal-best time of 10.24 seconds in the for He seriously considered transferring to either USC or

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

in the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

to play football; Ohio State coach John Cooper had kept the door open for Smith to return to the Buckeyes' football team, and he

Professional career

Smith was selected by the

in the first round of the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 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 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot Ma ...

, the 21st overall pick. Although he suffered from a number of ailments in his first few seasons, he finally broke through in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

with 1,266 yards rushing. Smith's finest year as a pro came in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

at age 28, leading the

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

in rushing with 1,521 yards; despite being at the peak of his career, he retired after the season. In eight NFL seasons, Smith rushed for 6,818 yards and 32 touchdowns, along with 178 receptions for 1,292 yards and 6 touchdowns, and only nine fumbles. He also returned 1 punt for 4 yards and 19 kickoffs for a total of 460 yards. Smith wore number 20 as a rookie in 1993, but switched to number 26 when it became available in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and wore it until his retirement.

Records

NFL

* Second all-time Minnesota Vikings record for career rushing yards (6,818). Passed by Adrian Peterson on September 9, 2012. The previous record was 5,887; which was set in 1979 by

Chuck Foreman Walter Eugene "Chuck" Foreman (born October 26, 1950) is a former American football running back who played for the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots in the National Football League. Considered one of the best passing-catching backs ...

. *Holds the all-time NFL record for average yards per touchdown run at 27.2

NFL career statistics

After retirement

Before retirement, Smith made a cameo appearance in the TV series ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...

'', in Season 8 Episode 3 ''

The Mole People ''The Mole People'' is a 1956 American science fiction adventure film distributed by Universal International, which was produced by William Alland, directed by Virgil W. Vogel, and stars John Agar, Hugh Beaumont, and Cynthia Patrick. The story ...

''. He played a scantily clad, mute "hunk" given to Pearl (the series' antagonist) as a present by her minions. Smith retired after only eight seasons in the NFL. He walked away from the game to pursue a career in medicine as well as to avoid any serious injuries. He has maintained a mostly private life since his retirement. He has mainly appeared as a guest on the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

news program ''

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'', or also referred to as ''OTL'', is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in mostly American sports on and off the field of play. The primary host of the show is ...

'', as well FS1 UNDISPUTED as a college football analyst on various

programs alongside regulars Rece Davis, Mark May, and

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

. Smith also works on the NFL Network as an analyst and has appeared on The Score to discuss the NFL. Smith is the founder and chairman of Fan Huddle, an on-demand wellness platform featuring content hosted by professional athletes and experts. In May 2016, Smith left ESPN to work for Fox Sports and is currently an NFL game analyst on Fox Sports, paired with Chris Myers. Smith founded the Robert Smith Foundation, a charity whose goal is to "provide financial and moral support for Children's hospitals and cancer research." 2004 saw publication of Smith's book ''The Rest of the Iceberg: An Insider's View on the World of Sport and Celebrity''. In it he discussed his background, his time at Ohio State and the NFL, and why he retired. He also analyzed the obsession placed on sports stars by the public. Smith is an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

. Smith is one of the

amateur astronomers Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

featured in

science writer Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public. Origins Modern science journalism dates back to ''Digdarshan'' (means showing the di ...

Timothy Ferris's 2007 PBS program, ''Seeing in the Dark,'' based on his 2002 book of the same name. On ESPN on November 1, 2013, Smith openly admitted to fighting alcoholism during his playing career during an interview on ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

''. He explained he sought counseling and has been sober since the birth of his son, and that his family is his daily motivation to stay sober. He also appeared on ESPN's '' First Take'' with

Stephen A. Smith Stephen Anthony Smith (born ) is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. He is a commentator on ESPN's ''First Take'', where he appears with Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an N ...

and Skip Bayless talking about his alcoholism. Smith lives in Texas.

References

External links

Fox Sports
– Robert Smith * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert 1972 births Living people American football running backs College football announcers National Football League announcers Minnesota Vikings players Ohio State Buckeyes football players National Conference Pro Bowl players Sportspeople from Euclid, Ohio Players of American football from Cuyahoga County, Ohio African-American agnostics American agnostics People from Powell, Ohio 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople American male sprinters Ohio State Buckeyes men's track and field athletes NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners