Steve Smith to Panthers: ‘I ran around those boys like they were schoolyard kids’
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith, Sr. started modestly in his postgame talk but couldn’t help but fall back on the same bravado he has carried throughout his 14-year NFL career.
“That film is a coaching session,” Smith said. “I’m 35 years old, and I ran around those boys like they were schoolyard kids.”
That film was Sunday’s 38-10 Ravens victory and “those boys” were the Carolina Panthers for whom Smith used to play for the first 13 years of his career.
Smith was the unquestioned star of the reunion game, catching seven passes for 139 yards with two touchdown catches.
The first touchdown was a you-make-your-own-luck trip drill when a Joe Flacco pass deflected off the hands of tight end Owen Daniels into those of a streaking Smith, who blazed 61 yards for the score.
After it, Smith had no fireworks — just a simple bow to the Ravens fans who were going crazy. As he walked back to the huddle, Smith did put one finger to his mouth as if to say shhhhhh. But he mostly stayed quiet until after the game.
The second was the more impressive individual effort by Smith. He was being tackled by Panthers cornerback Melvin White before the catch, but Smith managed to hang on for a brilliant 21-yard score that helped spur the Ravens rout.
Last season’s best Smith soundbyte was “ice up, son.” This might have been his “revenge up” game that everyone was anticipating — and expecting.
Smith promised to burn his former team, saying there would be “blood and guts” after the Panthers released him this offseason, and he delivered. He’s one of the rare athletes — the John McEnroe of our time — that actually does play better when angry.
After the game, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera came into the Ravens’ locker room to speak to the player he coached the previous three seasons.
Things did not end well, but Rivera likely was caught in the middle of a power play by Panthers GM Dave Gettleman, who was willing to pay good money ($5 million) to make Smith go away. Gettleman and Rivera insisted that Smith was released for football reasons, even though they might also have wanted to make a move in the locker room and throw their emotional support behind Cam Newton.
The relationship of Newton and Smith also dissolved down the stretch in their playing days together. Clearly, Newton was the young franchise pillar, and the team had to build around him and not the 35-year-old Smith, whom Gettleman clearly believed was in the twilight of his career. But Smith also has the talent and the motivation to prove Newton, Gettleman, Rivera, the Panthers and — heck — the oxygen-breathing world that he still can ball out.
Newton tipped his cap to Smith afterward.
“He’s got a lot of tread left on his tires,” Newton said, per the Charlotte Observer. “And his tires are big Tonka truck tires.”
Through four games with the Ravens, Smith now has 25 catches for 429 yards and three touchdowns — on pace for his best catch and yardage totals ever. And he’s the oldest to be this prolific through four games … ever.
Last season, Smith had 64 catches but for a mere 745 yards and four scores. He clearly felt like the Panthers started phasing him out of the offense the more time went on.
Smith now is 18th on the all-time receiving-yards list at 12,626 — 96 away from passing Art Monk for No. 17 and 160 from taking over No. 16 Irving Fryar. Only Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne are ahead of Smith on the list among active players.
The Ravens, however, clearly are phasing Smith into theirs. He has been their biggest offseason addition in a 3-1 start after their Week 1 loss in which Smith rallied from a shaky start (three drops) to score an 80-yard touchdown and jumpstart his revival season in Year 14.
Smith might have a new team, but his game is very much the same.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
