Telvin Smith signs autographs for fans Monday at Fairhope Municipal Stadium after his South Team practiced for today's Senior Bowl. He is projected to go in the NFL Draft. / Ben Twingley/btwingley@pnj.com
Senior Bowl
Who: North vs. South
When: 4 p.m.
Where: Mobile, Ala.
TV: NFL Network
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MOBILE — Telvin Smith spent his high school football career in constant transition.
He started at safety, went to defensive end, then settled into being a linebacker, where the position became his preference and best fit his personality.
“I just like the fact it’s in the middle of everything. It’s the heart of the defense,” said Smith, a Valdosta, Ga., native, who became a big part of the Florida State defense, leading the national champions in tackles (90) while pulling down three interceptions.
“I feel that’s how I lead ... by my ability to showcase,” said Smith, who then gave his practice Tuesday at the Senior Bowl as example.
“I kinda feel like I turned it up a bit and the guys rallied around it, and everyone started to get crazy and got loud,” Smith said. “Things like that have driven me to play linebacker.”
So please, all you NFL teams, please don’t ask him if he would consider moving to safety.
“Nobody has asked me about it yet, and I hope they don’t, because if they do, I don’t want to get rude,” said Smith, who made a career high 15 tackles in FSU’s win against Auburn in the BCS Championship game. “That is not an option for me.”
But here’s the deal: Smith officially weighed in Monday to begin Senior Bowl practices at 6-foot-2, 218 pounds.
The weight total sent murmurs throughout the giant room in the Mobile Convention Center where NFL scouts gather, view and often react to every player’s body and size announcement as he stands wearing only undershorts.
Now, there is some history here, especially at Florida State. Derrick Brooks was not a whole lot heavier when he weighed in 19 years ago to play in the Senior Bowl and became the defensive MVP of the 1995 game.
That helped Brooks, a Pensacola native and Washington High graduate, become a first-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brooks did finish his playing career at 235 pounds, but there were many concerns with his size 20 years ago. Scouts and front-office personnel wondered if he was big enough to play linebacker in the NFL.
“Derrick was an anomaly, and Derrick could run like the wind. I bet Telvin can’t run like Derrick,” said NFL Network analyst Charles Davis, who was an All-SEC defensive back at Tennessee. “I mean, Derrick was so unbelievable in what he did.
“What has really helped Telvin is that defenses have gotten smaller all the way around. Because of all these spread offenses, teams can’t trot out these big monster guys and keep them on the field anymore.”
Smith has spent this week trying to prove to NFL teams that you can’t keep him from playing linebacker.
The former Seminole has overcome a lot in his life. His father died during Smith’s freshman season at FSU. Every game, prior to kickoff, Smith points to the sky in his memory.
Like his dad, who was a high school football player, Smith dreamed of playing pro football but never imagining it would happen.
“It is crazy,” he said. “You don’t know how powerful those words are as a child. Every time I meet kids, I tell them, speak it now, because you never know what can happen later.
“But if you speak it, mean it, don’t just say it to talk ... chase it.”
Smith has been a fast riser. His only season as an FSU starter was this past season. At the Senior Bowl, he has left a favorable impression on Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley, who is coaching the South team in today’s game.
“He is very spirited, and you would hope somebody with that size has very good quickness and speed, and he does,” Bradley said. “I was really impressed with him out here on a bootleg play, and he was able to whip his head around and make the play.
“He’s probably not going to be an inside 3-4 linebacker. Those guys are generally 250, 255, but there are going to be so many teams who love his speed, love his spirit of the game and his diagnosis of the play.”