CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – It’s been two years since Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith sucker-punched a teammate, was suspended for two games and stripped of his role as team captain.
Now the four-time Pro Bowl pick is determined to reinvent himself – again. The oldest position player left on the NFL’s youngest team, Smith has regained his captaincy, vows to be a happier guy and even apologized for feuding with an opposing player, something as routine as acrobatic catches in his 10-year career.
“Just smile. I have these nice colorful braces. Just smile and have fun,” Smith said of his new philosophy. “Instead of frowning and getting upset, just smile and be glad at what’s going on.
“The season, it’s not permanent or temporary, it kind of comes and goes. You can’t hang your hat on it too much. You can’t allow it to dig you down too much. The next thing you know it’s 10 games, or 10 years, and you haven’t enjoyed it as much.”
The New Steve, version 7.0 or so, might elicit chuckles from some who have closely followed the career of the speedy, tough, 5-foot-9 receiver. He talked at length about being concerned about his legacy in 2008, a week before he punched Ken Lucas in the face while Lucas was on one knee without his helmet during practice. It marked the second time in his career he was suspended for attacking a teammate.
Smith came to camp last year reflecting about turning 30 and the importance of becoming a leader. Yet his teammates, still remembering the Lucas incident, didn’t vote him a captain, a position he held in 2007.
The 31-year-old Smith took over as one of Carolina’s union representatives this offseason and talked about the importance of planning for the future with labor uncertainty ahead. But then Smith inexplicably decided to play in a flag football league with weekend warriors in June and broke his left arm for the second time in six months.
Early in a training camp he sat out because of the injury, Smith told Sports Illustrated he felt New York Giants safety Michael Johnson intentionally tried to break his arm in a late-season game last year and vowed, “I’m going after him” in Sunday’s season opener.
Johnson responded by asking reporters, “Who are you talking about, the Steve Smith that went to the Pro Bowl?” It was a reference to the Giants receiver by the same name who made the Pro Bowl last year, while Carolina’s Smith didn’t.
This was nothing new for Smith, who has gotten into tussles with numerous players over the years. The memory of Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall’s complete meltdown while jawing with Smith in 2007 – getting 63 yards worth of penalties on one Carolina touchdown drive – remains fresh in many minds.
But this week Smith didn’t try to inflame the war of words with Johnson. Far from it.
“A lot of times I walk around here and pump my chest out and that I want the respect of players and the realism of it is I have the respect of players,” Smith said. “I just have to go out there and play.”
In case some didn’t understand Smith’s stance, he continued his self criticism.
“Just being immature, myself, just to be ignorant and frustrated,” he said. “I said that, and of course a guy has to respond. He’s trying to make a living. It’s not going to prove anything from my end to just go out there and just call him out. I can’t continue to be that way and I won’t be that way. To say that is just stupid.”
It’s the kind of comment a team leader, a captain might say. It’s the role Smith is ready to embrace again after a two-year absence. Teammates voted him an offensive captain this week.
“I’m going to conduct myself in a manner that continues to earn the respect of my teammates,” Smith said, “and of my opponents as well.”
Notes: Coach John Fox wouldn’t say Friday if he’s decided on Dwayne Jarrett or Brandon LaFell as the other starting receiver with Smith. “If I did I wouldn’t say,” Fox said. … Fox expressed confidence in RT Geoff Schwartz, who will start Sunday with Jeff Otah (knee) sidelined for at least a couple more weeks. “He’s a starter in our minds,” Fox said. … RB Tyrell Sutton (shoulder) and LB Jordan Senn (ankle) will also miss Sunday’s game. … DE Tyler Brayton (ankle) is probable after practicing all week.
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