Xavier Smith completed his highschool taking part in profession with out a lot consideration or fanfare. His goals of taking part in soccer at a better degree appeared bleak.
He did not have the snazzy statistics like another prospects, and at 5-foot-9 and 155 kilos, he did not move the attention check both.
“I actually did not obtain any gives popping out of highschool,” Smith mentioned.
And now, he is hoping his goals will grow to be a actuality throughout the 2023 NFL draft (April 27 on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+) after lately finishing his faculty profession at Florida A&M.
Actually, the huge receiver prospect has already caught the attention of Steve Smith Sr., who had a famed NFL profession at huge receiver whereas additionally standing at 5-9.
“He is a big-time participant,” Smith Sr. mentioned on his Lower To It podcast. “If he performed at an even bigger faculty, a Energy 5, he’d be a top-20 choose.”
However Smith, 25, nearly gave up on all of it.
Popping out of highschool, Smith despatched direct messages on social media to various junior faculty coaches. He even put collectively a spotlight reel and emailed it to over 100 extra coaches throughout the nation. However nothing appeared to work.
“I used to be actually executed with the game as a complete,” Smith mentioned. “It was out of frustration, and I used to be taking a look at it like possibly soccer is not what God had in retailer for me.”
With a scarcity of curiosity from schools, Smith began working for Amazon in 2016. Nonetheless, some phrases of encouragement modified his outlook on the path of his life.
“It may occur in God’s timing,” Smith’s mom, Angenetta Sanchious, informed him.
AFTER A YEAR of stacking pallets and getting shipments out at Amazon, Smith’s mother steered making use of to her alma mater, Florida A&M, a Division I HBCU situated just some miles away from Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida. His coworkers echoed her sentiments to go to high school, a possibility that will permit him to walk-on and fulfill his dream.
Earlier than Smith aspired to NFL heights, he had dreamt of taking part in for Florida A&M. He wished to be part of the annual in-state rivalry sport between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman that dates again to 1978.
“Rising up, we all the time went to the Florida Basic,” Smith mentioned. “I received an opportunity to look at FAMU after I was 7, 8 years outdated. There was all the time a giant crowd, so I’d all the time inform myself ‘At some point I wish to play there.’ That was my dream, to play at FAMU.”
The college’s response wasn’t the acceptance letter Smith had hoped for, however, as a substitute, a proposal for a six-week summer time bridge program to achieve admission.
Smith handed his bridge courses, however making the soccer workforce can be one other hurdle. Smith went to the entire summer time practices as an observer as his brother, Kareem, performed huge receiver on the workforce. However Smith could not check out till the primary day of courses.
When that day got here, huge receivers coach Steven Jerry was already acquainted with Smith due to Kareem, who was going into his senior 12 months.
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However as soon as the youthful Smith received out on the sector, Jerry was capable of see what Kareem had been telling him all alongside. Smith’s pace and quickness made him a believer, and Jerry grew to become influential in changing him to huge receiver from working again (the place he performed in highschool).
That call paid off shortly, as Smith excelled in follow as a member of the scout workforce throughout his first season in 2017. Smith used that redshirt 12 months as a “free 12 months to get higher.”
“My first fall camp was his first,” mentioned teammate Isaiah Land, who’s thought-about the No. 1 HBCU draft prospect. “First, he was over on the scout workforce, so I wished to see if he was good or not. I noticed it in him and knew he was going to be particular. It was a matter of time earlier than everybody else noticed it.”
Smith’s probability got here when coach Willie Simmons took over this system earlier than the 2018 season. Smith’s expertise on the time was seen, however it was robust to measure, nonetheless, as a result of nobody saved stats throughout follow.
When Simmons constructed a tentative depth chart primarily based on suggestions from individuals across the program, he had Smith pegged as a second-team exterior receiver.
“That lasted about quarter-hour,” Simmons mentioned with fun. “Seeing him transfer round, we knew he was going to be one in every of our high receivers. From that second day on, he was one of many guys.”
It is also a purpose that Smith went from walk-on to a scholarship participant that 12 months. Endurance, as his mother had preached, had paid off.
“At any time when my time got here she informed me to benefit from it,” Smith mentioned. “It was constructed up for thus lengthy. I used to be simply able to let unfastened.”
SMITH’S FIRST CATCH was a 7-yard reception on a bubble display towards Fort Valley State. Later that sport he scored his first landing on a seam route.
He completed the 2018 season with 48 receptions for 668 yards and 4 touchdowns, and his true breakout season got here the next 12 months when he posted 71 catches for 1,159 yards and 11 touchdowns.
That season is when Smith realized that an NFL future was potential. Smith’s greatest sport that season got here towards Delaware State when he had 9 receptions for 184 yards and 4 touchdowns, giving him nationwide recognition.
“I knew after these 4 touchdowns, that was the single-game report for my faculty,” Smith mentioned. “I ended up being on ESPN with Joey Galloway giving me the helmet sticker.”
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The Mid-Japanese Athletic Convention canceled fall soccer in 2020 amid the pandemic, resuming play within the fall of 2021 when Smith recorded 64 receptions for 713 yards and 4 touchdowns. In 2022, he was named an HBCU All-American with a career-high 87 receptions for 1,021 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior.
Smith concluded his collegiate profession within the sport he dreamed about all of his life, the place he had 5 catches for 73 yards within the Rattlers’ 41-20 win over Bethune-Cookman within the Florida Basic. He would additionally go on to attain his remaining landing of his profession on a 32-yard move from Jeremy Moussa.
When Smith confronted off towards a number of the faculties that ignored or rejected his highschool spotlight movies, it fueled his hearth.
“I wished to show to them that I belong,” Smith mentioned. “I took it personally as a result of I felt like the fellows that had been on their workforce had been the fellows that they selected over me.”
Then, in February on the HBCU mix in New Orleans, NFL scouts and personnel noticed his pace and quickness in particular person.
“Most groups that we talked to knew of him,” Smith’s agent, Rasheeda Liberty, mentioned. “That is an incredible factor for a small-school man. Groups felt his manufacturing gave him a reputation, however they wished to see how he would check.”
Smith’s blazing 4.38 and 4.39 second occasions within the 40-yard sprint elicited smiles on the scouts’ faces. The time of 4.38 would have been tied for the fourth quickest amongst receivers on the NFL scouting mix in Indianapolis.
His in-person exercises and measurables transferred to the sector checks the place Smith caught all the things thrown his method.
Scouts seen Smith took half within the area testing with out his gloves, which is uncommon as a result of most receivers put on gloves to have the ability to catch the ball simpler. Smith forgot to pack them however wasn’t going to let that cease him from showcasing his expertise in entrance of representatives from 30 (out of 32) NFL groups.
“He is a sophisticated route runner with pace, quickness and the flexibility to arrange defenders,” one scout informed ESPN. “He persistently will get open and has ball abilities. Whoever takes him on Day 3 or as an undrafted free agent will get an incredible playmaker.”
In the course of the week of follow following the mix main as much as the Legacy Bowl, an All-Star sport solely for HBCU prospects, Smith interviewed with 21 groups and was named offensive MVP of the sport with six catches for 85 yards and a landing.
ALL OF THE gaudy faculty numbers had been only a cherry on high of Smith’s true driving pressure.
Seeing his now retired mom maintain him, his brother and two sisters on her personal served as motivation for Smith to push his solution to the massive leagues.
“Simply seeing the laborious work that she put in and the entire sacrifices she made for us to achieve success, it gave me that further motivation to wish to maintain her for the remainder of her life,” Smith mentioned.
Seven years faraway from highschool, Smith’s focus has shifted to the NFL, however he was sincere about his journey as a professional prospect: “I might be mendacity if I mentioned I noticed this [opportunity].”
His path from highschool to Amazon to Florida A&M and finally so far has been removed from typical. However Smith feels it has ready him for the following step.
“I have been by means of lots of trials and tribulations to get right here,” Smith mentioned. “I do know within the NFL there might be lots of belongings you undergo. It could actually solely get higher in my view. No matter comes with it, I am prepared for it.”
