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With perfect posture, the big man stands on the sideline, right hand over his heart. The national anthem plays and Chiefs guard Trey Smith looks like he’s in a dream. A tear rolls down his cheek. As the song concludes, fans at Arrowhead Stadium replace the final word. “And the home of the CHIEFS!” “That,” Chiefs center Creed Humphrey says, “fires him up.”
Then with the smoke from fireworks still in the air, the game begins and Smith hits with such force and intensity that he could create sparks. “On that first drive, he’s looking to send a message,” Humphrey says. “He’s putting people on the ground and letting them know it’s going to be a physical game.”
The passion is remarkable and rare. It was destined that Trey Smith would be a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion. But he can’t stop thinking it almost didn’t happen.
When Trey was 5, he decided he wanted to be a football player. But as a self-described “fat kid,” he knew he had to be a certain kind of football player. So he hit his knees every night and prayed he would grow to 6-foot-5.
It was a tall order, given that height did not run in his family. His father, Henry Jr., stood between 6-1 and 6-2. His mother, Dorsetta, was 5-6, and his only sibling, sister Ashley, is 5-6.
By the time Trey was 12, he was close to his current height of 6-5 1/2, his prayers answered and then some.
He was unusually strong, too, partly because of how he spent his weekends. His grandfather owned a farm in Bethel Springs, Tenn., and Trey helped as a farmhand.
In eighth grade, Trey was invited to a football camp at Mississippi. There, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze offered him his first college scholarship. Trey and Dorsetta laughed at the offer, thinking Freeze was kidding, but it was no joke.
It wasn’t long before other universities followed Mississippi’s lead — Tennessee, Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and on and on.
Artis Hicks played offensive line in the NFL for 11 seasons, and his first NFL coach was Andy Reid. His patio overlooked the field where Trey’s team practiced. When Trey was a sophomore in high school, he and Henry approached Hicks after a Sunday service at Love & Truth Church in Jackson, Tenn., wanting to know if Hicks would train Trey.
Hicks knew most kids didn’t have the mental fortitude to be worth his time. He agreed to put him through a workout, but it wasn’t what Trey expected — he took him on a run of nearly five miles.
Trey was 15 when he lost his mother, Dorsetta, to congestive heart failure. She was 51.
Not knowing how to let go of someone who means so much, 15-year-old Trey buried his grief in sport.
“He channeled the sadness and frustration and released it through football,” Ashley says. “Losing her motivated him to honor her legacy and fulfill his promise.”
As his sorrow grew deeper, his play became fiercer and his star brighter.
ESPN named him the No. 1 prospect in the country and Trey, with roughly 40 scholarship offers, announced his decision to attend Tennessee live on ESPN.
After his freshman season, he was voted second-team All-SEC and was on his way to fulfilling his promise.
Trey is currently a free agent and is looking for a new team. He is considered one of the best guards in the league and will likely command a high salary in free agency.
The article goes on to talk about Trey’s journey, from his childhood prayers to his NFL career, and how he overcame obstacles such as blood clots and grief to become a successful football player.
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