|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL: OHIO STATE v ALABAMADecember 30, 2014Devin SmithNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Q. Wanted to ask you before the crowd arrived about when you weren't getting the ball and how tough it was. I mean, did you think briefly at all about going somewhere else? DEVIN SMITH: No, I didn't consider going anywhere else. It was more like I have doubts in my mind if I was going to end up keep playing. And then I thought about quitting for a brief moment. And I talked to my parents and really just their wisdom and their little talks they had with me pretty much got me through it. And here I am today at the Sugar Bowl. Q. Percent‑wise, was it like 10 percent you thought you would leave? I wonder how serious was it at least for a brief time? DEVIN SMITH: It was more of just a thought than I'm going to go do it. But I thought about it and it was something I never thought I would go through. What got me through it was talking to my mom, talking to my dad, and ever since I was younger, playing football, until now, my mom told me never to quit what I started. Those words kept in my head throughout my whole life. And that's how I live. Q. Were you kind of questioning your love for football, I guess? DEVIN SMITH: For a minute, because during the season you know how it was going, it was up and down, one game get a couple of catches, another game get one. I was like really is this something I want to keep doing if it's going to be like this. And I just told myself I just gotta get through it and I did. And made some history at Ohio State. I can't complain. Q. Rank it on this list of the receivers, when you look at that list, does that almost blow your mind? DEVIN SMITH: Yeah, especially with all the guys that have come here and to pass a Hall of Famer speaks volumes of all the hard work I've put in. Q. Do you get the sense maybe teams, you don't have the big name, that maybe you can sneak up on people once in a while. Maybe that's not the case in this game, but you know what I mean? DEVIN SMITH: I've kind of felt like that all my life that I was the underdog. I was kind of like that all in high school. I was a big name around my area and where I was from. But talking about the national stage, I was the guy that was the underdog and the sleeper, so to say. But it never really bothered me. I knew how good I was and that's all that mattered to me. I was going to work extremely hard like I've always done all my life and just have faith and here I am today making some noise a little bit and making some guys in the NFL say my name a little bit. I can't complain. Q. The way that you‑‑ I mean, against Wisconsin, your scores‑‑ that had to be kind of a tone‑setter and all that. Did that kind of convince you that this is the impact I can have, you know what I mean? That's so huge especially for Cardale. DEVIN SMITH: I knew the impact I had on this team, because I've done it plenty of times. I've made a lot of plays for this football team. But it wasn't week‑to‑week basis. That's kind of what bothered me a little bit because I wanted to be that guy this year to really take this team over the top. And I feel like at moments it was me that was helping this team. And at times I didn't do so much. And for whatever reason it was, I don't know, but I just stayed humble, kept working hard and just kept myself focused. Q. When you said people in the NFL were saying your name, was that scout‑‑ I don't know, you hear your name on TV or Mel Kiper? DEVIN SMITH: Just going home and a lot of people that are real into the NFL and really like to get the inside scoop on everything, people was telling me, Yeah, man, a lot of guys are talking about you at the next level. Just keep working, good things will come at the end. That's pretty much how I took it, just stay working hard. No matter if the ball is coming to me or not, just continue to work hard. Feel like if I do that everything will fall into place like I want it to. Q. You said when you left because it was your grandmother was sick? DEVIN SMITH: My grandmother was getting a little sick and my dad wanted to be closer to her. Q. I assume that's his mom, right? DEVIN SMITH: His grandmother. But we all call her grandmother. But she started to get a little sick. And he wanted to be closer to her. And that's where my dad is from, from Massillon, Ohio, and all his family are down there. So that was like my home as well. And we moved down there and then I fit in and just really enjoyed the time that I was there. Q. What's his name? DEVIN SMITH: Andre Simpson. Q. And her, what was her name, is she still alive? DEVIN SMITH: She passed away. She passed away Valentine's Day 2012. Q. And so you were there for a few years with her, right? DEVIN SMITH: Yeah. Q. What was her name? DEVIN SMITH: Innie May Foster. She's from Grady, Alabama. Q. I would assume going to Massillon helped your football career. DEVIN SMITH: Yeah, I had a few schools that was looking at me when I was‑‑ Ohio State being one of them and Illinois being another. I made some noise out there in Akron. A lot of people knew who I was. You're in a small city like that, everybody kind of knows when you stick out a little bit. And when I got to Massillon it was just a bigger stage. I'm going from playing with 2,000 people going to Massillon we're packing the stadium like eight, 9,000. It was a much bigger stage and I think playing for Massillon really helped me to be on this stage now. Q. The one‑handed‑‑ did you practice that all your life, or is that‑‑ it's kind of your thing. Have you worked on that? DEVIN SMITH: Oh, you make plays like that, that stuff you've done when you was little playing in the backyard hoping you can make SportsCenter. I didn't think it was going to happen like that. He threw the ball. I thought it was going over my head. As the ball was coming down, it was in reach and I just threw my hand up and it was perfect. Q. You've been doing it your whole career? DEVIN SMITH: Try to make as many plays as I can. Q. Tom Herman called you the best deep ball receiver in America in the Wisconsin game. What do you think about that? DEVIN SMITH: I think it speaks volumes just from the players that they've coached, Coach Meyer coaching a lot of guys that he's coached and for him to say something like that, man, it really means a lot. Q. What is it that allows you to be so good at that? Seems like that's your niche, the big play, 40 plus yard play? DEVIN SMITH: Really speed. I can get behind the defenders very easily. And if you have speed and you can threaten a DB, really make a move, you can get open. Q. People say the way to attack Alabama is to go deep on them and attack their corner, maybe the one pressure point on their defense. How much do you look at that and think there's maybe some things there that you can get done? DEVIN SMITH: The thing that we tout ourselves we're not going to change no matter who we play, so we're going to keep taking our shots and we know that's a weakness on their defense and we're going to attack their weakness, but we're not going to change what we do, that's to take shots and run the ball and be a great offense like we have. Q. Do you think with Cardale, you guys have even more ability to go deep because his arm is so strong, probably strongest as you've ever seen? DEVIN SMITH: I've played with him in high school. I know how good his arm is and obviously being in college really working on the mechanics I know he's gotten a lot better. Q. How has Cardale handled this week? Is he any different this week than he was the week of Wisconsin? DEVIN SMITH: You can tell that he's focusing on the look from his drop step and his motion throwing the ball you can really tell he's a lot focused on that. But at the same time he's going in there like he started before and not letting all this get to him. Q. How do you not let all this get to your head when it's just your second start, I imagine it takes a special kind of personality to do that? DEVIN SMITH: For me, I always stay composed. Really trust in my training and then the things that got me successful, got me to this point, keep doing. Q. How about for him, though? How does a guy like him, that's not‑‑ DEVIN SMITH: I feel like it's the same thing for him. May be a little different because he's the quarterback. But at the same time got to stay composed in situations like this and just really trusting your training and focus. Q. As you watch film of Alabama, do you get the feeling that‑‑ I don't know if you saw it leading up to this or maybe just this week, has Urban sort of created this team in an image of an SEC team in terms of recruiting guys, bringing guys in who have your type of front line speed? DEVIN SMITH: Yeah, you see guys like Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson and some of these guys on defense, I feel like here within the next year or two you'll begin to start to see a lot of speed from Ohio State and I think that's one thing that a lot of people really underestimate is we have a fast team. And I don't think that many people realize how fast our team is. We've got some offensive and defensive linemen for how fast they are. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|