Anthony “Fish” Smithson (born March 18, 1994) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their duties ...

. He played college football at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. He was signed by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

in 2017. He also played for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

College career

Hartnell

Smithson initially committed to play at

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems in C ...

out of high school where he played his freshman year.

Kansas

Following his freshman year at Hartnell, he transferred to the

. In 2015, he led the nation in solo tackles, which led to him being named Second-team All-Big 12. In 2016 he was named First-team All-Big 12.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

After going undrafted in the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

, Smithson signed with the

as an

. He was waived on September 2, 2017 during roster cutdowns. The following day, he was signed to the Redskins' practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on December 19, 2017. On September 1, 2018, Smithson was waived for final roster cuts before the start of the 2018 season.

Arizona Cardinals

On December 19, 2018, Smithson was signed to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play th ...

practice squad. He was released six days later.

Los Angeles Chargers

On January 3, 2019, Smithson was signed to the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

practice squad.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On July 25, 2019, Smithson signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team plays ...

, but was waived on August 4.

Baltimore Ravens

On August 27, 2019, Smithson signed with the

. He was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2019 and was released on March 18, 2020.

Personal life

Smithson's brother, Antoine "Shaky" Smithson, played wide receiver at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of ...

and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the thir ...

in 2011 but was shortly released off of injured reserve with an injury settlement. His nickname "Fish" was given to him by his grandmother as a child due to his

fear of fish Fear of fish or ichthyophobia ranges from cultural phenomena such as fear of eating fish, fear of touching raw fish, or fear of dead fish, up to irrational fear (specific phobia). Selachophobia, or galeophobia, is the specific fear of sharks.

References

External links

Kansas football profileWashington Redskins bio
1994 births Living people Players of American football from Baltimore American football safeties Hartnell Panthers football players Kansas Jayhawks football players Washington Redskins players Arizona Cardinals players Los Angeles Chargers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Baltimore Ravens players {{defensiveback-1990s-stub