Detron Nigel Smith (born February 25, 1974) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), primarily with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

and was selected by the Broncos in the third round of the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

. He was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

in 1999.

Early life and college

Smith was a consensus Texas Top 100 selection at

Lake Highlands High School Lake Highlands High School (LHHS) is a secondary school serving grades 9–12 in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independe ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and was rated the second-best fullback prospect in the Southwest, receiving a perfect score of 10 points on Max Emfinger's Blue Chip List. During his career at Lake Highlands, he carried the ball 181 times for 1,351 yards (7.5 yards per carry) and scored 15 touchdowns. Smith was primarily a blocking back during his career at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, creating holes for future

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

running backs

Rodney Thomas Rodney Dejuane Thomas (March 30, 1973 – June 14, 2014) was an American professional football player who was a running back for seven seasons for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). ...

, Greg Hill, and

Leeland McElroy Leeland Anthony McElroy (born June 25, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a running back and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the 1990s. He played college football for th ...

. He rushed 57 times for 184 yards (3.2 yards per carry) and one touchdown, while catching 33 passes for 300 yards (9.1 yards per catch) with a long of 35 yards. Smith also returned five kickoffs for 54 yards. During his first two years at A&M (1992–93), Smith's running backs coach was his future Broncos offensive coordinator and current

head coach

Gary Kubiak Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a quarterback for the Denver Broncos before coaching, serving as head coach for the Houst ...

. Smith made a key block on a McElroy touchdown in the 1993 game against

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

that secured the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

title for the Aggies.

Professional career

Smith was the first blocking fullback selected when he was drafted in the third round (65th overall) of the

by the

, and the second true fullback behind only Tampa Bay's

Mike Alstott Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college ...

. In April 2002, after six seasons in Denver, Smith was signed by 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. However, he was released before making an appearance and played for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in 2002 and 2003. He was released by the Colts in early 2004. During his tenure in the NFL, Smith was known as a high energy player who would sacrifice his body on blocking and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

alike. With both the Broncos and

, Smith instantly became a fan favorite with his big hits on special teams and willingness to do the little things. In total, he played in 113 games over 8 seasons, highlighted by his selection to the

1999 and two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

rings won with the Broncos (

Super Bowl XXXII Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXI champion Green Bay Packers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide t ...

in 1997 and

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXII champion 1998 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

in 1998).

References

External links

ESPN page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Detron 1974 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas American football fullbacks Texas A&M Aggies football players Denver Broncos players Indianapolis Colts players American Conference Pro Bowl players Lake Highlands High School alumni