Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Raiders' Smith finds his way, credits special people of Marshall
5/1/2019 3:51:00 PM | Football, General, Big Green Scholarship Foundation, Word on the Herd
NFL tight end returned to speak at annual year-end banquet
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Lee Smith is why.
Marshall University has a supportive and passionate fan base – one of the most fervent in Division I athletics. Sometimes, one of those fans might question their own fandom. Is the commitment worth it? Should you donate your time, your money, your emotions? It can be quite the investment.
If you're able, though, be it time or money or spreading good words on the Herd, Lee Smith is why you do it.
Smith, if you're unaware, played football at Marshall from 2007-10. He played under two head coaches, including the inaugural campaign of John "Doc" Holliday. Smith, a fifth-round NFL Draft selection of the New England Patriots in 2010, has played eight seasons in the NFL. He has a wife and four kids, two of whom were born in Huntington.
Smith shared his story at the annual Big Green Scholarship Foundation dinner – the HERDSPYS – last Friday night. He shared his tumultuous journey, which included the premature end of his football career at the University of Tennessee, a move which led to his relocation to Marshall. He called himself an "idiot" for his behavior. He said he had "nowhere near enough sense to contribute to any college football program."
At Marshall, he claimed he was "still an idiot," and said Marshall great and then-assistant Phil Ratliff used to walk him to class and cuss at him every single day.
Here, in our beloved community, in our Marshall family, is where Lee Smith turned the corner. He thanked people like his wife and Ratliff and the team chaplain, Rev. Steve Harvey, for being his guiding light.
"I was able to become a man," Smith said, "Slowly, but surely."
Smith, who played his first four seasons with the Buffalo Bills and spent his last four years in Oakland with the Raiders, shared his message with the football team on Friday afternoon and then the audience at the dinner that night. He is a massive man – 6 feet, 5 inches and 265 pounds – who makes a living by knocking people down.
Friday, though, Smith was uplifting. He had nothing but praise for his time in Huntington because without a stop here, he isn't sure where his journey would have taken him.
"This university … was a place I was able to hit reset," Smith said. "This place … you can just feel how different it is. I'm not blowing smoke – there is something different about this place.
"There is something here that no one else has. I couldn't be more thankful to be here."
Smith endured a coaching change at Marshall after his junior season. He talked about the transition and the doubts he had as he'd spend his senior season playing for a new head coach. He was soothed by Holliday retaining Ratliff, his position coach, as an assistant on the new staff.
He then shared a story about why Holliday, who is now entering his 10th season in charge of the Thundering Herd football program, means so much to him.
"Doc is a madman," Smith said. "We all know that and that's why we love him. There's very few coaches in the world who have the ability to cuss you but you know they love you. It's normally one or the other. Doc has the ability to find that middle ground.
"(Tonight), he was talking to me about helmets. Doc was telling me he put every one of his kids in the best helmet going. The No. 1 rated helmet for concussions. Coaches don't give a (bleep) about that. Coaches don't care. But Doc Holliday cares about these kids' health.
"When you do something like that, as a player, you know your coach cares about you. You can play hard for a guy like that. You should all be happy that Doc Holliday is the head coach at Marshall."
And that was the theme for Smith on Friday night. He wanted to show he cared that people here cared.
Smith went around the room thanking people who made a difference in his life. He grew up as the son of a football player, and witnessed a collegiate atmosphere elsewhere. He has been around athletes from colleges and universities all over the country during his eight seasons in NFL locker rooms. No one, Smith said, has what Marshall has here.
"That's one thing I will always, always say about this university," Smith said. "That M is special and that green will hang in my house until the day I die, but the most special thing about this place is the people. The people at Marshall University is why Lee Smith is standing here talking to you.
"The relationships (elsewhere) just aren't what they are like here as members of the Herd."
We all want what's best. We all want to win. We all want championships and to hang banners and carry goalposts down the street. We love football; we love winning football; and we love the Herd. When all three happen here, it's better than anywhere.
But if you ever feel yourself questioning yourself why, remember Lee Smith. Think about how, when he lost his balance in life, you helped him stand with your cheers and your support.
And then think about how many Lee Smiths are in the locker room now, and how one day they'll return to tell you how much you meant to them.
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a seven-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
