Justin Curtis Smith (born June 5, 1979) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played 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) with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

and

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. 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 ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

and attended Warren Central High School in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. He was also a member of 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) NFC West, West division. The ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

and Hamburg Sea Devils.

College career

Smith played for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

from 1998 to 2001, earning All-Big Ten Conference honors in 2000 and 2001 and Academic All-Big Ten honors in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. He was on the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

watch list in 2000 and 2001.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Smith signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on April 22, 2002, after going undrafted in the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

. He was released by the Buccaneers on September 2 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 4, 2002. He was promoted to the active roster on January 11, 2003, and declared inactive during second round of the playoffs. Smith earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

when the Buccaneers won

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

on January 26, 2003. He was released by the Buccaneers on August 31 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 3, 2003. He was promoted to the active roster on November 14, 2003. Smith was released by the Buccaneers on December 6 and re-signed to the team's practice squad on December 9, 2003. He appeared in two games for the Buccaneers during the 2003 season.

St. Louis Rams

Smith was signed off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad by the St. Louis Rams on December 11, 2003. He played in three games for the Rams in 2003. He was released by the Rams on August 24, 2004.

Arizona Cardinals

Smith signed with the Arizona Cardinals on August 27, 2004. He was released by the Cardinals on August 29, 2004.

Carolina Panthers/Amsterdam Admirals

Smith was signed by the Carolina Panthers on January 12, 2005. He was allocated to

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

to play for the

on February 15, 2005. He was placed on injured reserve on September 3, 2005, causing him to miss the entire 2005 season. Smith was released by the Panthers on October 14, 2005.

Chicago Bears/Hamburg Sea Devils

Smith signed with the Chicago Bears on January 10, 2006. He was drafted by the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europe on January 28, 2006. He was released by the Bears on May 30, 2006.

References

External links

Stats Crew profileNFL Draft Scout
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Justin Living people 1979 births Players of American football from Indiana American football linebackers Indiana Hoosiers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players St. Louis Rams players Hamburg Sea Devils players Sportspeople from Lafayette, Indiana 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen