De'Veon Smith

De'Veon Smith
refer to caption
Smith in 2014
No. 2 – Arlington Renegades
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born: (1994-11-08) November 8, 1994 (age 29)
Warren, Ohio, U.S.
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:221 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Howland (Warren, Ohio)
College:Michigan (2013–2016)
Undrafted:2017
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:3
Receiving yards:27
Stats at Pro Football Reference

De'Veon Le'trell Smith (born November 8, 1994) is an American football running back for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football at Michigan, and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Miami Dolphins in 2017. He has also played for the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) and Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL.

Early life

Smith was born in 1994.[1] He attended Howland High School in Warren, Ohio.[2][3] He set the career rushing record for Trumbull County, Ohio, with 6,750 rushing yards at Howland High School.[1][4] He was a finalist for Ohio's "Mr. Football" award.[1]

College career

In March 2012, prior to his senior year in high school, Smith announced that he had committed to play college football for the University of Michigan.[5] He also received collegiate offers from Bowling Green, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and West Virginia. As a freshman in 2013, Smith appeared in twelve games and had twenty-six carries for 117 yards.[1]

As a sophomore in 2014, Smith led Michigan with 519 rushing yards on 108 carries.[6] In the opening game of the 2014 season, Smith carried the ball eight times for 115 yards. He also scored two touchdowns and had a run of sixty-one yards.[7] Derrick Green also rushed for 170 yards in the game, as Smith and Green became the first pair of Michigan running backs to rush for over 100 yards in the same game since 2007.[8]

During the 2015 season, Smith was again Michigan's leading rusher with 753 yards and six touchdowns on 180 carries and emerged as one of the star players in Jim Harbaugh’s first year at the helm.[9]

Through the first eleven games of the 2016 season, Smith led Michigan with 750 rushing yards and ten touchdowns on 144 carries.[10] On November 19, 2016, the 10-1 Wolverines were struggling against Indiana, and Smith proceeded to put the team on his back. He rushed for a career-high 158 yards and had two momentum-changing touchdowns against Indiana.[11]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 10+7⁄8 in
(1.80 m) 		223 lb
(101 kg) 		29+1⁄2 in
(0.75 m) 		9 in
(0.23 m)		 4.85 s 1.73 s 2.77 s 4.45 s 7.00 s 29 in
(0.74 m)		 9 ft 0 in
(2.74 m)		 22 reps
All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[12]

Miami Dolphins

Smith signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2017.[13] He was waived on September 2, 2017, and was signed to the Dolphins' practice squad the next day.[14][15] He was promoted to the active roster on November 18, 2017.[16] He was waived by the Dolphins two days later and re-signed to the practice squad.[17] He was promoted back to the active roster on November 29, 2017.[18]

Washington Redskins

Smith signed with the Washington Redskins on August 20, 2018.[19] On September 1, 2018, he was waived for final roster cuts before the start of the 2018 season.[20]

Orlando Apollos

On August 17, 2018, Smith signed with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 AAF season.[21][22] The league ceased operations in April 2019.[23]

Tampa Bay Vipers

Smith was drafted in the 3rd round in the 2020 XFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Vipers.[24] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[25]

TSL Aviators

Smith signed with the Aviators of The Spring League on October 17, 2020.[26]

BC Lions

Smith signed with the BC Lions of the CFL on December 15, 2020.[27] He was released on March 19, 2021.[28]

Pittsburgh Maulers

Smith was drafted in the 2022 USFL draft by the Pittsburgh Maulers, but was cut from the team before the season by Kirby Wilson for requesting pizza that a staffer had brought into the cafeteria at meal time, instead of the chicken salad cafeteria food as Smith said he didn’t like chicken salad. The decision by Wilson was harshly criticized by many across social media.[29]

Arlington Renegades

The Arlington Renegades selected Smith in the eighth round of the 2023 XFL Supplemental Draft on January 1, 2023.[30] He re-signed with the team on January 29, 2024.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "De'Veon Smith". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  2. ^ Mike McLain (September 15, 2012). "The Smith Show: Senior running back leads Tigers to win". Tribune Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014.
  3. ^ Steve Ruman (August 27, 2012). "Howland's Smith could break county mark". Tribune Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "Trumbull County High School Football Player of the Year". WFMJ.com. December 13, 2012.
  5. ^ Tim Cleveland (March 20, 2012). "Howland's Michigan Man: De'Veon Smith verbalizes college choice". Tribune Chronicle.
  6. ^ "Michigan Football Statistics (12-game Totals)". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  7. ^ "Appalachian St 14, Michigan 52". ESPN.com. August 30, 2014.
  8. ^ Brendan F. Quinn (August 30, 2014). "Michigan's season opener produces two 100-yard rushing performances for first time since 2007". Mlive.com.
  9. ^ "2015 Michigan Football: Michigan Overall Team Statistics (as of Jan 01, 2016) All games" (PDF). University of Michigan. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  10. ^ "2016 Michigan Football Statistics (11-game Totals)". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  11. ^ Angelique S. Chengelis (November 19, 2016). "Smith powers Michigan, setting up huge OSU game". The Detroit News.
  12. ^ "De'Veon Smith Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  13. ^ "PRESS RELEASE: Dolphins Sign 14 Undrafted College Free Agents". MiamiDolphins.com. May 5, 2017. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018.
  14. ^ "Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. September 2, 2017. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018.
  15. ^ "Dolphins Sign 8 To Practice Squad". MiamiDolphins.com. September 3, 2017. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.
  16. ^ Butler, Alex (November 18, 2017). "De'Veon Smith: Miami Dolphins promote RB, waive Rey Maualuga". UPI. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  17. ^ "Miami Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. November 20, 2017. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017.
  18. ^ "Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. November 29, 2017. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018.
  19. ^ Kring-Schreifels, Jake. "Redskins Sign Running Back Adrian Peterson". Redskins.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  20. ^ "9/1: Redskins Make Roster Moves". Redskins.com. September 1, 2018. Archived from the original on September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  21. ^ "Latest list of Alliance San Antonio players". 210 Football. August 17, 2018. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  22. ^ "Orlando Apollos Set Final Roster". Our Sports Central. January 30, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  23. ^ Rothstein, Michael; Wickersham, Seth (June 13, 2019). "Inside the short, unhappy life of the Alliance of American Football". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  24. ^ Bender, Bill (October 21, 2019). "XFL Draft picks 2019: Complete results, rosters, players for new football league". Sporting News. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  25. ^ Condotta, Bob (April 10, 2020). "XFL suspends operations, terminates all employees, but Jim Zorn says he has hopes league will continue". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  26. ^ @TheSpringLeague (October 17, 2020). "Some new faces at #TSL2020 for the Aviators" (Tweet). Retrieved November 3, 2020 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ Baker, Matt (December 15, 2020). "Lions Re-Sign Canadian Quartet For 2021". BCLions.com. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  28. ^ "2021 CFL Transactions". CFL.ca. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  29. ^ Kerr, Jeff (April 18, 2022). "USFL player cut by Pittsburgh Maulers over wanting pizza instead of chicken salad in team hotel". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  30. ^ "Supplemental Draft Picks 2023". XFL.com. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  31. ^ @UFL_PR (January 29, 2024). "The United Football League has announced the following transactions" (Tweet). Retrieved January 29, 2024 – via Twitter.
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