Smoot Rises to New Level With Gutsy Play

[TK]

http://redskins.com/story.asp?ContentID=12207

Smoot Rises to New Level With Gutsy Play

11/05/2003

Inside Slant

By Gary Fitzgerald

Redskins.com

Every season, football players must battle through an assortment of nicks and bruises. But sometimes, one football player plays through an injury—simply because the team needs him—and rises to a new level of respect from coaches, teammates and fans.

For the Redskins, cornerback Fred Smoot went above and beyond when he started last Sunday’s game at Dallas. The third-year player had a bruised sternum and was listed as doubtful for the game. With Rashad Bauman out for the game with a sprained ankle, the Redskins were thin at the cornerback position.

Smoot recognized that if he could play, he would.

He played.

“Fred showed a lot of heart,” said fellow cornerback Champ Bailey, who also is playing with an assortment of injuries. “I wasn’t even expecting him to play. For him to show up and be as effective as he was, I give him a lot of credit.”

Smoot re-aggravated the injury during the game, but was able to return. He is expected to play in Sunday’s game against Seattle. Officially, he is listed as probable for the game. Anyone who has been around Redskin Park the last few weeks knows that Smoot has been in discomfort because of the injury. The normally loquacious Smoot has been less talkative the past few weeks.

“It gets to the point where I have to take short breaths,” he said. “So that’s the biggest problem, just getting my breath back. As a defensive back, I have to run every play whether it’s a run or a pass play. So the quicker I can regain my breath, the better I’ll feel.”

The Cowboys tested Smoot early and often. He finished the game with six tackles, tied for third best on the team.

“When you’re injured and teams know about it, they’re going to come at you,” he said. “First thing I noticed was that [Dallas head coach] Bill Parcells was sending running backs in my direction, so I just couldn’t run away from the tackle. I had to go straight ahead and do it. And that’s what I did.”

It was the second time this season that Smoot overcame an injury to play in a game. Prior to the Week 4 game against New England, Smoot suffered a concussion after he collided with safety Matt Bowen during a play in practice. He was able to play in the game and had five tackles.

As the Redskins attempt to overcome their mid-season struggles, the gritty, gutsy play of Smoot is something that is sure to inspire his teammates.

“Fred’s a tough guy and he wants to be on the field,” Bowen said. “He was out there tackling people, too. It wasn’t like he was out there standing around.

“Fred deserves a lot of credit for going out there against Dallas, because a lot of guys wouldn’t have done that. You could see he was hurting just by the way he was walking around [at Redskin Park] last week. It takes that type of player to get a team going in the right direction. When we have guys like Fred doing that, people take notice and people want to play harder.”