Torrey Smith
James Torrey Smith is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League for eight seasons. He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins and was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2011 NFL draft. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Carolina Panthers. Smith is a two-time Super Bowl champion, winning Super Bowl XLVII with the Ravens and Super Bowl LII with the Eagles.
Early life
Smith was born on January 26, 1989, and grew up with his mother Monica Jenkins in Colonial Beach, Virginia, and Fredericksburg, Virginia. The oldest of seven children, Smith helped his single mother, who attended Rappahannock Community College in the day and worked at night, with household chores and earned honor roll grades in school. Smith attended Colonial Beach Elementary School until 3rd grade. Smith went on to Stafford Senior High School, where he played basketball as a guard, and football at several different positions. He enjoys fishing as a pastime.Smith played on the Stafford Indians football team as a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, cornerback, kickoff returner, and punt returner. In Stafford's 2004 game against King George, Smith opened with a 54-yard kickoff return, played quarterback, and scored on a 63-yard punt return. His coach, Roger Pierce, said, "Torrey can do those type of things for us. We expect him to do those things." During his senior year in 2006, Smith had 155 carries for 815 yards and 12 touchdowns, completed nine of 25 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns, and made three receptions for 81 yards. Over the course of his interscholastic career, Smith returned six kickoffs for touchdowns. He earned all-state kick returner honors as a sophomore, all-district honors as a junior, and honorable mention All-Northwest Region quarterback honors, all-district, and all-area honors as a senior.
As a college prospect, Rivals.com ranked him 30th nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks, Scouts, Inc. ranked him 33rd nationally among wide receivers, and SuperPrep placed him on its Virginia 33. ESPN assessed him as a "do-it-all prospect" and projected him as a wide receiver because of his size and speed. Smith was recruited by Maryland, Penn State, and Virginia Tech. He was shown interest by Virginia, but did not receive a scholarship offer. The Virginia staff, which questioned whether he had recovered his speed after a basketball injury during his junior year, asked Smith to run a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at a Nike combine at Clemson University, which he did. The Virginia staff then asked him to repeat the feat at the University of Virginia campus, but Maryland offered a scholarship, which Smith accepted. He later said, "I kind of hold a grudge against U.Va. a little bit. I'm not afraid to say it. I kind of want to show them that they questioned my speed and whether I was going to get it back. I want to show them that I'm all healed up." Virginia head coach Al Groh said of the Fredericksburg native before the 2009 game against Maryland, "Clearly if we him being the type of player that he is now, he would be returning kicks for Virginia. So we are not above admitting that there is a player that certainly has turned out to be superior to what many people thought, including ourselves. He's—regardless of what the circumstances were in the past—he is a superior college football player."
College career
2007 season
Smith sat out the 2007 season at Maryland on redshirt status, and was voted the scout team player of the year as a freshman. He was named the scout team player of the week before the Florida State game. In summer camp, Smith adjusted from playing quarterback to wide receiver, a position he had limited experience with in high school. Teammate Darrius Heyward-Bey said, "He's like a sponge. He's taking it all in, asking a lot of questions—and that's good for a receiver." In December, he practiced with the first team after Isaiah Williams suffered an injury.2008 season
Smith drew praise from the Maryland coaching staff during summer workouts before the 2008 season, and The Washington Times predicted Smith, alongside receiver Ronnie Tyler, would earn significant playing time. He played in all 13 games and started in the last six of the season. He also saw action on special teams as a kickoff returner. Smith recorded 24 receptions for 336 yards and two touchdowns. In its midseason report, The Baltimore Sun credited Smith for often giving an inconsistent Maryland team good field position with his long kick returns.Against Middle Tennessee, Smith returned four kicks for 86 yards. He made his first career reception for three yards the following week against #23 California. Against Eastern Michigan, Smith recorded two receptions for 58 yards and four kickoffs for 126 yards. Smith tallied his first collegiate touchdown on a third-quarter reception from quarterback Chris Turner in the 20–17 comeback at #20 Clemson. He recorded 144 return yards against Virginia.
In the 26–0 victory over #21 Wake Forest, Smith returned the opening kick 34 yards, and caught two passes for eight yards. Smith made his career first start against NC State and recorded four kickoff returns for 85 yards, which set the school single-season kickoff return yards record for a freshman, surpassing the 566-yard mark set by Da'Rel Scott in 2007. Smith blocked a punt against Virginia Tech, and led the team with 163 all-purpose yards including 62 receiving yards. He recorded one reception for 12 yards against 16th-ranked North Carolina.
In the latter part of the season, Smith increased his role and was elevated over Isaiah Williams as the number-two receiver across from Darrius Heyward-Bey. Head coach Ralph Friedgen explained that his presence would alleviate the coverage on Heyward-Bey and praised Smith's blocking ability in the running game. Against Florida State, Smith broke the school record for single-season kickoff return yards, previously held by cornerback Josh Wilson. He had 119 all-purpose yards, including one 13-yard reception. Smith posted his season-best performance against 21st-ranked Boston College with 245 all-purpose yards and eight receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown.
In the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl, he returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against Nevada, which broke the bowl's previous return record of 98 yards. It was also the first time a Maryland player returned a kickoff for a touchdown in a bowl game. At the end of the season, Smith had returned 42 kickoffs for 1,089 yards, which set a new Atlantic Coast Conference single-season record. Smith led the team with 1,425 all-purpose yards, which put him ahead of starting running back Da'Rel Scott who compiled 1,304 yards.
2009 season
Before the 2009 season, Smith reportedly struggled in Maryland's summer camp, dividing his time between practice and online courses at night. Towards the end of camp, head coach Ralph Friedgen noted an improvement in his performance, which reestablished Smith as the team's top receiver alongside Adrian Cannon.During the season, Smith saw action in all twelve games, including ten as a starter, and he amassed 61 receptions for 824 receiving yards and five touchdowns, 51 kickoff returns for 1,309 yards and two touchdowns, and eleven rushing attempts for 59 yards and one touchdown. His kickoff return yardage led the NCAA and surpassed the ACC single-season record that he had set the previous year. Smith finished the season ranked sixth in the nation in all-purpose yards. He was one of two players, alongside Donald Buckram of UTEP, to record more than 260 all-purpose yards in three games. Smith led the team in receptions, receiving yards and return yards. Smith's 2,192 all-purpose yards were the second-most ever recorded by an ACC player behind only C. J. Spiller of Clemson.
In the season opener at #12 California, he caught one pass for 28 yards and made two rushing attempts for 16 yards. Against Division I FCS James Madison, Smith caught eight passes for 80 yards, rushed twice for 22 yards and a touchdown, and returned four kickoffs 127 yards, including one 81-yard touchdown return. Despite the strong statistical performance, head coach Ralph Friedgen said, "To be honest with you, I was kind of expecting more out of Torrey. I've got a lot of faith in him. I'm not surprised at all about the return yards. But I think if you asked Torrey, he has high expectations for himself, too." Smith agreed with the criticism, and acknowledged that in his second season as a wide receiver, he had room for improvement. He recorded five catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the Middle Tennessee game, and caught four passes for 112 yards against Rutgers. He led the team with three receptions for 64 yards and a 29-yard touchdown against Clemson, and became the first player in the nation to reach 1,000 all-purpose yards on the season. Against Wake Forest, Smith returned six kickoffs 194 yards and caught a career-high ten passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. For his performance, he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Specialist of the Week. Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said, "This kid is probably a better receiver . He catches the ball better, he's got great foot speed. He can hurt you running the ball or catching it. Everywhere you look, he's a problem."
Coach Friedgen named Smith the special teams captain for the Virginia game. During the game, Virginia chose to kick short to keep the ball away from Smith on kickoffs, and quarterback Chris Turner did not target him until the fourth quarter. He finished with three receptions for 34 yards and no returns. He recorded two receptions for 13 yards at Duke. At NC State, he caught eight passes for 64 yards and returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. During the game, he surpassed the ACC single-season kickoff return yards record which he had set the previous season. He had four receptions for 55 yards against 21st-ranked Virginia Tech, seven receptions for 71 yards against Florida State, and six receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown against Boston College.
After the season, the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association named Smith to the All-ACC second team as both a wide receiver and return specialist. Phil Steele's and The Sporting News named him to their All-ACC first teams as a wide receiver. Phil Steele's and Rivals.com named him to their All-ACC second teams as a kick returner. Smith submitted his name to a panel of NFL scouts after the season, which evaluated him as a third- or fourth-round selection in the 2010 NFL draft.