Shiyun M. Smith (born October 26, 1998) is an

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 ...

wide receiver and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

of 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). 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 ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Early years

Smith attended Union County High School in

Union County, South Carolina Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,244. Its county seat is Union. The county was created in 1785. Union County is coterminous with the Union, SC, Micropolitan Sta ...

. He caught 54 passes for 1,337 yards and 17

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

as a junior and 67 passes for 907 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior. He committed to the University of South Carolina to play college football as a 4 star recruit.

College career

As a true freshman at South Carolina in 2017, Smith played in 12 games with seven starts and had 29 receptions for 409 yards and three touchdowns. He again started nine of 12 games in 2018, recording 45 receptions for 673 yards and four touchdowns. As a junior in 2019, he started all 10 games he played in missing two due to injury. He finished the season with 43 receptions for 489 yards and two touchdowns. Smith became South Carolina's primary receiving target his senior season in 2020. Smith finished his senior season in 2020 with 57 receptions for 633 yards and 4 touchdowns over the course of 9 games. Following the conclusion of the 2020 season, Smith announced he was declaring for the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

. Smith left South Carolina fourth in program history in total catches and eighth in receiving yards. He also is tied for 13th in the record books for career touchdowns.

Professional career

Smith ran a 4.43 40-yard dash, performed a 36 inch vertical jump, a 10 ft, 3 inch broad jump, and ran a 6.83 3-cone drill at his pro day. Smith was selected by the

with the 204th pick in the sixth round of the

. On May 13, 2021, Smith signed his four-year rookie contract with Carolina. On December 11, 2022, Smith scored his first career touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks on a 13 yard pass from

Sam Darnold Samuel Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, where he became the first freshman to win the Archie Griffin Awar ...

Personal life

On March 25, 2022, Smith was arrested for unlawfully carrying a handgun, drug possession, and speeding in South Carolina.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Shi 1998 births Living people Carolina Panthers players People from Union County, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina American football wide receivers South Carolina Gamecocks football players