FS:Loud and proud: Smoot must step up in secondary

[scskinsfan]

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2004/082004/08022004/1450891

Loud and proud

Redskins training camp: Smoot must step up in secondary

By ADAM HIMMELSBACH

Date published: 8/2/2004

Redskins' Smoot backs up his talk

ASHBURN--He'll talk your ear off, that Fred Smoot.

He'll tell you how he's the best thing to happen to football since the helmet. He'll tell you how the Washington Redskins are on the verge of something big.

It all pours out in that Mississippi twang. That voice with more carry to it than a good punt. It's a voice that'll find you. It'll find you if you're a teammate or an opponent or a reporter. Through the first three years of Fred Smoot's career, it was also the voice of a second banana.

There Smoot would be, playing cornerback on one side of the field. On the other end would stand Champ Bailey--everyone's all-pro. Opposing quarterbacks rarely picked on Champ, so they'd throw the ball Smoot's way. They figured he was the weak link.

Then, following last season, the Redskins traded Bailey and a future draft pick to the Denver Broncos in exchange for running back Clinton Portis.

Just like that, the loquacious Smoot became the senior member of Washington's secondary.

"I've done the hard part; I played on the opposite side of Champ," Smoot said following yesterday's training camp session at Redskins Park. "Now I have to grow and become my own. I don't think people were going to measure my skill for what it was while Champ was here."

That was always tough on Smoot. Sure, he loved the attention he got for his quick wit. But he also wanted the attention Bailey got for defense that was last-notch-of-the-belt tight.

During a game against the Tampa Bay Bucs last October, Smoot broke his sternum and bruised his chest while tackling wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. Smoot missed the Redskins' game against Buffalo the next week, but was back on the field for the following game.

It hurt to breathe, but worst of all for Smoot, it also hurt to laugh. After hard hits, he had to run to the sidelines and take gulps from an oxygen tank. He fought through the pain and played his best football of the year. The injury, Smoot said, made him focus on some of the technical aspects of football that he may have been overlooking.

By season's end, Smoot had a team-leading four interceptions, making him the first Redskin to lead the team in pilfered passes for three straight years.

"Fred probably should have missed about six games with that chest injury," Redskins cornerback Rashad Bauman said. "But he just missed one game, one single game. When we see our leader getting up and fighting on every play, that brings a lot out in the rest of us."

If it's possible, Smoot's excitement level has mushroomed since last season. He's thrilled to be the leader of a deep and talented secondary.

After Bailey was traded, the Redskins signed free agent cornerback Shawn Springs and drafted safety Sean Taylor with the No. 5 overall pick of the NFL draft.

Taylor saw his first action of training camp yesterday after missing the first day with a knee injury suffered during passing camp. Smoot and Springs have already taken part in several mini-camps together, though, and have developed an instant chemistry.

"It's like the left shoe and the right shoe," Smoot said. "We're the same at both sides. Anytime you can have that, it's always going to be good."

During seven-on-seven drills yesterday afternoon Smoot was matched up with Laveranues Coles, the Redskins top receiver. The two traded some playful banter, and Smoot kept Coles in check for most of the session. He managed to stifle Coles on deep routes, yet still sent the wideout back to the huddle smiling.

"Fred keeps everybody going," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. "I don't care if it's off the field or on the field, he's always got some kind of funny joke or comment for someone. He's probably making fun of me. I just haven't heard it yet."

Smoot says he's stocked up with plenty of new jokes and jabs. He plans to have teammates roaring and opponents seething. That's nothing new, though. Smoot sees the best moments coming on the football field, and he's positively giddy to know he's got a full season to tell you all about them.

"Ya'll don't know what's coming," he said. "I've got a lot of surprises. I'm ready to show the world how good Fred Smoot really is."

To reach ADAM HIMMELSBACH: 540/374-5442 ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com

Date published: 8/2/2004

[cphil006]

Sevety-five percent of the earth is covered by water, the rest is covered by Smoot...