Shaun Jamel Smith (born August 19, 1981) 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 wit ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

, and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

. He also was a member of the

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League. The team played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the Unive ...

in the United Football League. He was signed by the

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 a ...

in 2003. He played college football at the University of South Carolina.

Early years

Smith attended

Midwood High School , motto_translation = The True, the Good, and the Beautiful , address = 2839 Bedford Avenue , city = Brooklyn , state = New York , zipcode = 11210 , country ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

. He transferred after his sophomore season to

Wichita Heights High School Wichita Heights High School, known locally as Heights, is a public secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary sc ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

. He played as a

. He enrolled at

Butler Community College Butler Community College (BCC) is a public community college in El Dorado, Kansas. Campus There are a number of branch campuses throughout the area, in Andover, Council Grove, Marion, McConnell, Rose Hill, and a number of distance-learning ...

El Dorado, Kansas El Dorado ( ) is city and county seat of Butler County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in the central part of Butler County and located in south-central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city ...

. As a freshman in 1999, Smith along with teammate Rudi Johnson, contributed to the school winning the national championship by defeating Dixie College. As a sophomore in 2000, he registered 128 tackles and a school single-season record 20 sacks. As a junior in 2001, he transferred to the University of South Carolina, where he was a backup

, making 11 tackles. As a senior in 2002, he started 2 games and posted 38 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery in 12 games.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Smith was signed as an

by the

after the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. ...

on May 1. He was signed to the practice squad on September 1 after being waived on August 31. He was released on August 31, 2004.

Arizona Cardinals

Smith was claimed off waivers by 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, an ...

on September 1, 2004. He was waived five days later on September 5.

New Orleans Saints

On September 7, 2004, he was signed to the

' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on September 18 and made his debut versus the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on September 19. He finished with 16 tackles and one

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms * ...

. He was released on November 30, after getting food from the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Cent ...

press box, while being deactivated for a game.

Cincinnati Bengals (first stint)

Smith was claimed off waivers by the

on December 2, 2004. He played defensive tackle, while recording six tackles and one start. In 2005, he recorded 38 tackles in 13 games with five starts. In 2006, he registered 14 tackles. In 2007, the Bengals opted not to match the restricted free-agent offer sheet that Smith received from the

Cleveland Browns

Smith signed a four-year deal with the

as a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

on March 16, 2007. He played mostly as a

in a 3-4 defense, started 11 games and made 62 tackles. In 2008, he was tried at

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

during training camp, but was moved back to

. He started 9 out of 11 games, while making 47 tackles and being limited with a calf injury. On December 23, various media outlets reported that

Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Notre Dame, where he won the Maxwell Award, and ...

had a physical altercation with Smith in the Browns' weight training room, and that Smith punched Quinn in the face. Quinn denied the reports, and coach

Romeo Crennel Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is a former American football coach, who was the senior advisor for football performance for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, C ...

refused to comment; Browns

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

Darnell Dinkins confirmed the fight during a radio interview on

WQAL WQAL (104.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, featuring a hot adult contemporary format known as "Q104" . Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves Greater Cleveland and surrounding Northeast Ohio. WQAL's studios ar ...

. Smith did not play in the following game because of a coaches' decision. He was released on August 8, 2009.

Detroit Lions

Smith was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

on August 10, 2009. Smith was released during the final roster cuts on September 5. He also was suspended for the first 4 games of the season for violating the league's anabolic steroid policy.

Las Vegas Locomotives (UFL)

On November 19, 2009, he signed with the

of the United Football League, to replace an injured Wendell Bryant. He contributed to the team winning the UFL Champsionship game against the Florida Tuskers on November 27.

Cincinnati Bengals (second stint)

Smith was re-signed by the Bengals on December 9, 2009. He was waived on December 12 and re-signed on December 16. He was not re-signed after the season.

Kansas City Chiefs (first stint)

Smith signed with the

on March 10, 2010. In consecutive weeks, he was accused by players from the opposing team of grabbing them in their private parts during play.

Alex Mack Javon Alexander Mack (born November 19, 1985) is a former American football center. He played college football for the University of California, Berkeley and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round with the 21st overall of the ...

of the

made the first claim after the two teams' Week 2 matchup, followed by

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time ...

of the

, who drew a penalty for retaliating against Smith in Week 3. Although Smith denied both allegations, he was fined by the league.

Tennessee Titans

On July 29 of 2011, he signed with the

a three-year, $7.25 million contract, to play as a defensive tackle. He scored his first career rushing touchdown on Week 12 against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

. He finished with 6 starts, 25 tackles and one sack. In 2012, he showed up in training camp out of shape and underperformed. He was released on August 22.

Kansas City Chiefs (second stint)

On November 5, 2012, he re-signed with the

, to serve as insurance in case Glenn Dorsey missed multiple games with a calf injury. He was not re-signed for the 2013 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Shaun 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn Players of American football from New York City American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Butler Grizzlies football players South Carolina Gamecocks football players Dallas Cowboys players Arizona Cardinals players New Orleans Saints players Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players Las Vegas Locomotives players Kansas City Chiefs players Tennessee Titans players Midwood High School alumni