Tye Smith (born May 3, 1993) is an American 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the Massachusetts Pirates of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL). 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

Towson Tigers The Towson Tigers, formerly the ''Towson College Knights'', are the athletics teams of Towson University. All of the major athletic teams compete in the Coastal Athletic Association with 19 Division I athletic teams (13 in women's sports, 6 in me ...

and was selected by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in the fifth round of the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

. He has also been a member of 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Orlando Guardians The Orlando Guardians were a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The Guardians competed in the XFL (2020), XFL. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment as the New York Guardians and were owned-and-o ...

, and

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the ...

Early life

Smith attended Wakefield High School in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, where he graduated in 2011.

College career

Smith committed to

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its foundin ...

where he enrolled in July 2011. He attended Towson from 2011 to 2014 and played all four years.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Smith was selected by the

in the fifth round, 170th overall, of the

. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Seahawks as part of final roster cuts. On September 8, 2016, he was signed to the Seahawks'

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He was released on September 21, 2016.

Washington Redskins

On September 27, 2016, Smith was signed to the

' practice squad.

Tennessee Titans

On January 16, 2017, Smith signed a futures contract with the

. In 2017, Smith played in a career-high 15 games in his first season with the Titans and posted career-bests with 11

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, an

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

and eight

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 ...

tackles. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on July 31, 2018. Smith re-signed with the Titans on March 13, 2019. He was waived on November 2, 2019. Smith was re-signed on November 5, 2019, after a wrist injury to Malcolm Butler. In week 13 against 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 ...

, Smith recovered a field goal attempt by

Adam Vinatieri Adam Matthew Vinatieri (born December 28, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 24 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Vinatieri is the ...

that was blocked by teammate Dane Cruikshank and returned it for a 63-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

in the 31–17 win. In week 14 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 ...

, Smith forced a fumble on tight end Darren Waller which was recovered by teammate Jayon Brown who returned the ball for a 46-yard touchdown during the 42–21 win. Smith re-signed to a one-year deal with the Titans on April 21, 2020. He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 14, 2020. He was placed on injured reserve on November 7, 2020. He was activated on November 28, 2020.

Minnesota Vikings

On June 3, 2021, Smith signed a contract with the

. He was released on August 31, 2021, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. On March 28, 2022, Smith re-signed with the Vikings. He was released on August 16, 2022, but re-signed nine days later. He was released on August 29.

Orlando Guardians

Smith signed with the

of the XFL on March 6, 2023. The Guardians folded when the XFL and

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

merged to create the United Football League (UFL).

Memphis Showboats

On January 15, 2024, Smith was selected by the

during the Super Draft portion of the

2024 UFL dispersal draft The 2024 UFL dispersal draft was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2024 UFL season and disperse the rosters from the eight teams from its component conferences, the XFL and USFL, that were not retained i ...

. He signed with the team on January 22. He was waived on March 23, 2024.

References

External links

Towson Tigers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Tye 1993 births Living people American football cornerbacks Memphis Showboats (2022) players Minnesota Vikings players Orlando Guardians players Players of American football from Raleigh, North Carolina Seattle Seahawks players Tennessee Titans players Towson Tigers football players Washington Redskins players