It's palindrome day again? Wow...those 11 days in between go super fast. Good for us.
We've got 33 days until kickoff...so today we'll be highlighting #33 on the Boise State roster—Tommy Smith.
#33, Tommy Smith, Senior, LB
Stats
Height: 6-1
Weight: 236
High School: North Atlanta High School, Atlanta, GA
How'd he get to The Blue™?
Smith was quite the baller at North Atlanta High School, as the youngsters say—earning 4 varsity letters on the gridiron and making the Atlanta Journal Constitution all-city team as a senior. Smith also pulled in 2nd team all-conference honors his senior year after making 87 tackles, 12 sacks, and 2 INTs. As a junior, Smith made 76 tackles and 8 sacks and added another 70 tackles and 6 sacks between his sophomore and freshman campaigns. Scout.com rated Smith as the 98th best safety in the country in 2008, and he fielded offers from Western Kentucky and Purdue.
Nicknames
"Tommy Fresh"
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Look-a-like
Career highlights
Played in all 12 regular season games in 2011, registering 18 tackles with 3 for loss. Named to WAC All-Academic team in 2010. Forced fumble against Hawaii in 2010. Named to WAC All-Academic team in 2009. Recorded interception against Miami (OH) in 2009.
2012 prospectus
Tommy Smith has had a positively stellar career for a guy that gets overlooked as often as he does. In Smith's 3 seasons, he's racked up a respectable 67 tackles, which considering he's bounced from OLB to MLB to FB is not too shabby at all. This season—his last with the Broncos—Smith is expected to be at least a co-starter with Blake Renaud at MLB, and I think may emerge from the shadows a bit this year and really make some plays. Smith is definitely one of the more versatile players on the squad and his wealth of experience should come in handy with the new crop of young LBs hitting The Blue this year. Their depth will be a must, but so will be Smith's knowledge and guidance, so I'm betting that even if this doesn't end up being Smith's biggest season statistically, it will be his most important. That said...I do indeed think that statistically Smith will have a big year (30–40 tackles) and ideally (for him, anyway) should split time with sophomore Renaud ala the Tevis-Percy tandem we've seen the last few seasons. We don't have a wealth of depth at the LB positions so keeping fresh legs in the game will be a must. Everyone wants to have a big senior year...and I'm guessing that's precisely what Tommy's set his sights on.
Completely made up fact
The 1975 musical Tommy is based on Tommy Smith's life...all the parts except the plot, music, and dialogue.