Wendell Lynn Smallwood Jr. (born January 20, 1994) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. 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 ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and was selected in the fifth round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. Smallwood was also 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 ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, and

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 ...

Early life

Smallwood attended Red Lion Christian Academy in

Bear, Delaware Bear is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 19,371 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. Originally a small crossroads in a rural area, approxim ...

, before transferring to Eastern Christian Academy in

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,776 at the 2020 census, up from 15,443 in 2010. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of navigation on the Elk R ...

, for his senior year. He was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit. He received offers from West Virginia,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

, and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. He chose to commit to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

(WVU) to play

College career

As a true freshman at West Virginia in 2013, Smallwood played in 12 games and rushed for 221 yards on 39 carries with one

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 ...

. He also served as a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

, returning 30 kickoffs for a total of 541 yards. As a sophomore, he played in all 13 games and made nine starts. He had 722 rushing yards on 148 carries and two touchdowns. He also recorded 31 receptions, fifth most in school history for a single season. As a junior in 2015, Smallwood rushed for a

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

-leading 1,519 yards on 238 carries with nine touchdowns. With 2,462 rushing yards in his collegiate career, he finished ninth in school history. After the season, he decided to forego his senior season and entered the

. While at West Virginia, he majored in

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

with a minor in communications.

Career statistics

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Smallwood was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

with the 153rd overall pick. He signed his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

four-year contract on May 4, 2016. On September 25, 2016, Smallwood scored his first career rushing touchdown in a 34–3 win against the

. Due to an ankle injury limiting starter Ryan Mathews to only two carries, Smallwood was the featured back for the Eagles, recording 89 yards and the touchdown on 17 carries. In Week 6 against the

, he scored his first kickoff return touchdown and the NFL's first kickoff return touchdown of the season. 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 December 12, 2016, finishing his rookie season with 312 rushing yards and a touchdown. In the 2017 season, Smallwood finished with 174 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 13 receptions, and 103 receiving yards. During his second year in the NFL, the Eagles defeated the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

by a score of 41–33, giving them their first

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 ...

championship in franchise history. In the 2018 season, Smallwood continued to share a deep backfield. In Week 3, he scored his first rushing touchdown of the season 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 ...

. Overall, he finished the 2018 season with 364 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 28 receptions, 230 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. The Eagles made the playoffs as the #6-seed. In the Wild Card Round against the

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 ...

, he had 20 rushing yards and 20 receiving yards in the 16–15 victory. In the Divisional Round against the

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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, he had 33 rushing yards and a six-yard reception in the 20–14 loss. Smallwood was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.

Washington Redskins

On September 1, 2019, Smallwood was claimed off waivers by the

. In the 2019 season, he appeared in 15 games and recorded 22 carries for 81 rushing yards to go along with nine receptions for 64 receiving yards.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On July 28, 2020, Smallwood signed with the

. He was waived on September 5, 2020, and re-signed to the

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 ...

two days later. He was elevated to the active roster on December 2 for the team's week 12 game against the

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

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on January 18, 2021.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On October 6, 2021, Smallwood was signed by the

to the practice squad. He was released on October 12.

Washington Football Team

On November 2, 2021, Smallwood was signed to the Washington Football Team's practice squad.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Smallwood is the son of Nichelle Barber and Wendell Smallwood. Growing up, he was a Philadelphia Eagles fan, his favorite player being Duce Staley, who became his position coach upon Smallwood being drafted by the Eagles. In July 2014, Smallwood was arrested in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

on charges of

witness tampering Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficulty ...

. Smallwood was accused of trying to get a witness to

recant Recantation is a public denial of a previously publishing, published opinion or belief. The word is derived from the Latin ''re cantare'' ("sing again"). It is related to repentance and revocation. Philosophy In philosophy, recantation is link ...

statements they made implicating a friend of Smallwood's, Zakee Lloyd, charged with

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

. The same day, the charges against Smallwood were dropped when prosecutors claimed Smallwood agreed to cooperate and testify at trial, Lloyd pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. In November 2024, Smallwood was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. These charges may result in Smallwood facing up to 50 years in prison. Authorities also believe Smallwood of being involved in a conspiracy to defraud COVID-19 relief programs.

References

External links

*
West Virginia Mountaineers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Wendell 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Wilmington, Delaware American football running backs West Virginia Mountaineers football players Philadelphia Eagles players Washington Redskins players Pittsburgh Steelers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Washington Football Team players