Terrelle Vernon Smith (born March 12, 1978) 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 ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. He was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the fourth round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. 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 ...

at Arizona State. Smith has also played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. Smith's brother, Safety

Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith Da'Mon Jonnel Cromartie-Smith (born February 17, 1987) is a safety who is currently a free agent. He was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football for the University of Texas at El ...

, is a free agent.

College career

At Arizona State, Smith served as a blocking back for

J.R. Redmond Joseph Robert Redmond (born September 28, 1977) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders, and won Super Bowl XXXVI as a member of the Patriots ov ...

after moving to fullback from the

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, p ...

position. He had twenty-two carries for 129 yards (5.7 yards-per-carry average) with one touchdown, and added eleven receptions for 95 yards.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Smith was drafted 96th overall in the

by the

. He signed a four-year, $1.7 million contract with the Saints. As a rookie, he appeared in fourteen games, including nine starts. He assumed the starting fullback role after being drafted and became one of the top blocking fullbacks in the league. He posted twenty-nine rushes for 131 yards and twelve receptions for 65 yards. He played all sixteen regular season games for the Saints during the 2002 season for the first time in his career, and helped bolster

Deuce McAllister Dulymus Jenod "Deuce" McAllister (born December 27, 1978) is an American former football running back who played eight seasons for the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Ole Miss and was dr ...

's rushing totals in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

thanks to his blocking.

Cleveland Browns

Smith was signed by the

to a three-year $3.2 million contract as an unrestricted free agent on March 11, 2004, and played in all sixteen games of the 2004 season, including nine starts. He blocked for

Lee Suggs Lee Ernest Suggs, Jr. (born August 11, 1980) is a former American football coach and former player. He played college football as a running back at Virginia Tech and professionally for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins in the National Footb ...

' career-high 744-yard season. Smith went on to play in all sixteen games of the 2005 season (starting fifteen) and helped Reuben Droughns achieve the Browns' first thousand-yard season since the mid-1980s. On March 14, 2007, the Browns announced the release of Smith.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 23, 2007, he signed a two-year $1.8 million deal with the Cardinals. In 2007, he started 10 of 16 games and recorded the most receiving yards since his rookie season in 2000. In 2008, he was again the starting fullback and his role increased during the Cardinals' Super Bowl run, throwing key blocks during the playoffs. When asked about his role, Smith replied, "I'm a role player and my role is to lead the way and let my back run through the hole. It's not a statistics position . . . but in the end, if you can't block, you can't play the position."

Detroit Lions

Smith was an unrestricted free agent after the 2008 season and signed with the

on April 16, 2009. He was waived on December 17.

References

External links

Detroit Lions Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Terrelle 1978 births Living people People from Moreno Valley, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from West Covina, California American football fullbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players New Orleans Saints players Cleveland Browns players Arizona Cardinals players Detroit Lions players