From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jimmy Lee Smith (born February 9, 1969 in Detroit, Michigan) is a former American
football wide
receiver in the National Football League for
the Dallas
Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
High school
years
Smith attended Callaway High
School in Jackson, Mississippi and won
All-Conference honors in football.
Professional
Career
Smith was drafted in
the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft out of Jackson State University. He
spent two injury-plagued seasons with Dallas. After missing much of
the 1992 season with a broken
leg, early in 1993 he underwent an
emergency appendectomy which led to a severe infection and was nearly
fatal. In the aftermath, a dispute broke out between Smith and
Cowboy owner Jerry
Jones, who claimed that, since the condition wasn't football
related, the Cowboys should not have to pay Smith for the 1993
season. Smith spent all of 1993 on the injured reserve
list.
Before the 1994 season, Smith
was cut by the Cowboys. He was subsequently signed by the Philadelphia Eagles but was cut
before the 1994
season began.
He was signed by the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in February
1995 after head coach Tom Coughlin saw the
talent that Smith possessed, perhaps as a result of the efforts of
Smith's mother, who sent Coughlin a binder of Smith's press
clippings.[1] In 1996, Smith emerged as
a dominant receiver on a Jaguars team that made an improbable
appearance in the AFC Championship Game. He
continued to be a key member of the Jaguars offense and helped lead
the team to playoff appearances for four straight years (from 1996 to 1999). In 2001, Smith was found
to have benzoylecgonine, a by-product of cocaine, in his system after
being pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving. He
denied using cocaine and was not charged with any crime since he
was not found to be impaired while driving.[2] The
incident did place Smith into the NFL's substance-abuse program and
in 2003, he was handed a four-game suspension for an undisclosed
additional violation.[3]
On May 11, 2006, Smith announced his retirement from the
NFL.[4] He
finished his career seventh in NFL history with 862 catches and
11th in league history with 12,287 yards. He had 67 career
touchdown catches with the Jaguars. He had seven straight 1,000
yard seasons which ranks third behind Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. Smith had been
voted to the Pro Bowl five
straight times from 1997 to 2001. He is also the Jacksonville Jaguars
all-time leading receiver, having led the team in receiving every
season from 1996-2005. He also set team
records with 116 receptions and 1,636
yards in 1999, both career highs. His career high in touchdowns was eight,
achieved in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
As of 2008, the only players in
the Pro Football Hall of Fame
with more career receiving yards than Smith are Art Monk (12,721) Steve Largent (13,089) and James Lofton
(14,004); only Monk has more catches.
In April 2009 Smith was arrested for multiple drug charges.[5]
NFL
Records
- Most games with at least 5 receptions in a season - 16 (every
game in 2001)
- Most consecutive games with at least 5 receptions - 21
- Most games with at least 49 receiving yards in a season - 16
(every game in 2001)
References
External
links
| Dallas Cowboys 1992 NFL Draft
selections |
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Draft
Years: 1983
• 1984 •
1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009
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