Musa Smith (; born May 31, 1982) 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 ...

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 ...

who played five seasons 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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in the third round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. Smith has also been a member of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. 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 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Early years

Smith attended West Perry High School in rural

Perry County, Pennsylvania Perry County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,842. The county seat is New Bloomfield. The county was created on March 22, 1820, and was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero of the ...

, and was a ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' Honorable Mention All-USA selection in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

College career

Musa Smith rushed for 2,202 yards and 19 touchdowns on 454 carries (4.9 yards per carry) during his three-year career at Georgia. This included a spectacular junior campaign in 2002, when he rushed for 1,324 yards and eight touchdowns on 261 carries (5.1 yards per carry), becoming the first Georgia running back to pass 1,000-yards in a season since

Garrison Hearst Gerard Garrison Hearst (born January 4, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Georgia, and was r ...

in 1992. Smith played a starring role in Georgia's 2003 Sugar Bowl victory over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

on January 1, 2003, carrying the ball 23 times for 145 yards in Georgia's 26-13 win.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Baltimore Ravens

Smith was drafted with the 13th pick of the third round (77th overall) in the

. He played sparingly for much of 2003 and 2004. During a Week 11 game with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Smith was

horse-collar tackle The horse-collar tackle is an American football maneuver in which a defender tackles another player by grabbing the back collar or the back-inside of an opponent's shoulder pads and pulling the ball carrier directly downward violently in order to ...

d from behind by

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

Roy Williams. Smith's right leg was trapped under the weight of his body, resulting in a severe

compound fracture A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a '' ...

of his right

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

. The injury basically put Smith out of action for two seasons (he played only one game in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

) and led to the NFL banning the tackle in May 2005. In the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Ravens training camp, Smith outplayed Mike Anderson in the battle for the backup running back job behind

Jamal Lewis Jamal Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Tennessee and was s ...

. In three preseason games in 2006, Smith was tied for the NFL lead with

LaMont Jordan LaMont Damon Jordan (born November 11, 1978) is an American football coach and former running back. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Maryland. Jordan also played for the ...

with 123 rushing yards on 13 carries (7.9 yards per carry). In total, Smith has rushed for 262 yards and three touchdowns on 62 carries (4.2 yards per carry) in 34 regular season appearances with the Baltimore Ravens, he has also caught 28 passes for 180 yards as of the end of the 2006 season. He was the backup to

Willis McGahee Willis Andrew McGahee III (born October 21, 1981) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Miami, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of t ...

and had an increased role in the 2007 season as in past years he mainly played on special teams. Smith had 264 rushing yards and two touchdowns that year. Through his stay with the Ravens, Smith collected 132 rushes for 496 yards, and four touchdowns on a 3.8 yard average. He also had 54 catches for 363 yards, on a 6.7 yard receiving average.

New York Jets

On May 27, 2008, Smith was signed by the

. He was later released on August 26 prior to the regular season.

Personal life

Smith is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. His name translates to Moses in Arabic. Smith has a brother Taalib that is a personal trainer at the Big Vanilla Health Club in Arnold, Maryland. Smith's father, Kelvin Smith, ran training camps for

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

, and law officers from the family farm in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, and was convicted in 1999 on charges related to the

1993 World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., carried out on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the complex. The urea nitrate–hydrogen gas en ...

. Kelvin Smith was an agent with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Musa Smith also has three kids.

References

External links

New York Jets bio
(archived)

(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Musa 1982 births Living people African-American players of American football American football running backs American Muslims Baltimore Ravens players Georgia Bulldogs football players New York Jets players People from Perry County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people