Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith will announce his retirement Monday afternoon, ending his NFL profession after 11 years in Baltimore.
Smith, a first-round choose in 2011 who helped safe the Ravens’ Tremendous Bowl XLVII triumph, performed 128 video games in Baltimore, beginning 90. He completed with 14 interceptions, seventh most in franchise historical past.
Smith, 33, acknowledged close to the top of final season that his future in soccer was unsure. He was set to grow to be a free agent, and accidents had restricted him to simply 30 video games from 2019 to 2021. He’ll be joined at a information convention Monday by coach John Harbaugh and basic supervisor Eric DeCosta.
“It’s robust as a result of I’m a soccer participant,” Smith stated earlier than the Ravens’ regular-season finale in January. “I adore it. Like, that is my life, and generally simply even enthusiastic about not enjoying, I’m like, ‘Ugh, I don’t need to do the rest.’ However it's a grind, and it’s one thing you need to mentally put together your self [for] the older you get. [And] having youngsters now, on a regular basis, they’re like, ‘Daddy, you’re going to work once more? You’re going to work once more?’ And it’s like, ‘I’ve been doing this my whole life. I don’t know what it’s prefer to be free.’ ”
When wholesome, Smith might be a shutdown exterior cornerback, with the approach and measurement (6 ft 1) the Ravens have lengthy coveted for his or her aggressive protection schemes. Nearly three months into the 2020 season, Professional Soccer Focus graded Smith because the eighth-best all-around nook within the league and the ninth greatest in protection — forward of starters Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters.
However accidents quickly sidelined Smith, as they usually did all through his profession. He performed in each sport in a season simply twice, and after 2015, he by no means made greater than 12 appearances in a 12 months. Smith handled a sprained ankle, a sports activities hernia, a Lisfranc (foot) fracture, a again harm, a torn Achilles tendon, a sprained knee, a strained groin, a shoulder harm, a strained hip and a strained neck, amongst different illnesses, over his profession.
In January, Harbaugh, one among Smith’s fiercest advocates in Baltimore, recalled consoling him throughout his rookie 12 months and telling him that he would get better from a sports activities hernia in time to play. Harbaugh stated he advised Smith that “You're going to be the man that makes the distinction in our season and wins us a championship.” Within the Tremendous Bowl, Smith saved San Francisco 49ers huge receiver Michael Crabtree from catching the go-ahead landing go on a fourth-and-goal play late within the fourth quarter.
“Darned if it wasn’t him on that final sequence that made the performs that wanted to be made to win the Tremendous Bowl in that sport,” Harbaugh stated. “So once in a while, we’ll type of speak about that and type of snicker about it. That all the time stands out for me. After which during, he’s been by way of rather a lot personally. He’s carried out an excellent job along with his household and his youngsters. He’s needed to battle some adversity by way of accidents and issues like that, however when the time comes, he all the time reveals up and performs good soccer.”
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