During his induction into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, Smith reflected on his career and his time at North Carolina State.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's hard to hear Steve Smith Jr.'s name and not immediately think of the Carolina Panthers. But the California-born wide receiver admitted to WCNC Charlotte that he didn't know much about East Coast sports before moving.
“Unless it's a big game, all I remember is UCLA, USC, Notre Dame. That's what I grew up watching,” Smith admitted.
He remembers following ACC basketball, laughing that there were only 13 channels back then. But everything accelerated when he moved to North Carolina.
“I had never experienced that before I moved here,” Smith said with a laugh.
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“A lot of these schools I end up going to for work and I’ve never actually been on campus, so I end up going to the team store and going in there and getting some stuff like that. ” Smith said. “I've never actually been on campus. I didn't go to school here, so I never really saw some of these campuses until I had the chance, but living here… So it's a little exploration.'' It was fun and unique and cool. ”
At the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame Gala on Friday at Johnson & Wales University, Smith was asked what his best game was.
“I think…it was my rookie season when I kicked off the opening game,” Smith recalled. “Because…we played on Sunday, but that Wednesday [before], a daughter was born. ”
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Even with this honor and knowing he was on the verge of becoming a future NFL Hall of Famer, Smith shared how he felt when he heard he was worthy of these accolades.
“It took me a long time to sit here and really accept the compliment,” Smith said. “A lot of athletes, consciously or unconsciously, as they grow up, they accumulate Teflon and build up calluses because they're more aware of what they couldn't hear. They kind of get stuck with it.”
Smith said she grew up with that training and still has to try to be “OK with who she is” at times. He said he also still struggles to live up to his own fame.
“Sometimes I'm at the grocery store…and I'm not at the grocery store like Steve Smith, I'm at the grocery store looking for toilet paper,” Smith said. joked. “I'm not in the grocery store looking for autographs. I'm in the grocery store looking for napkins. It's the human element that needs to be adjusted and understood, but how Respectfully acknowledge that and respond appropriately, but at the same time, when I'm where I am, I'm there for the job that I'm trying to do.”
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Smith said it's all about trying to find the balance between being human off the field and superhuman on the field. And he was a superhero, still holding multiple NFL records, including highest single-game punt return average, two punt returns for touchdowns, and catching a touchdown pass in the same game. He is one of only three players in NFL history to do so.
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