WEBVTT - S3 Episode 1: Always Been Like This 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.040 Drafted is a production of tree Fort Media, Clutch Sports Group, 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:12.200 and I Heart Radio. Hello, how you doing. Let's get it, 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.159 Let's get it. Oh my gosh, I work for it 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:24.480 is man. Welcome to Season three of Drafted. I'm Steven 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:36.120 Johnson and we're back with the two thousand one NFL Draft. Yeah. 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.879 This season, we're following six elite college football players as 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.840 they make the leap from campus to their new NFL 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:50.400 teams and cities. In these ten episodes, we'll hear firsthand 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:54.200 personal experiences from behind the scenes at one of history's 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:58.880 most unique NFL drafts, in person in Cleveland and at 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:02.000 home and in living room and even in cabins all 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.840 across the country. Airbnb to cabin up in Big Bear 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:09.360 right off the lake, and he's like, Hey, I'm about 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.640 to be there. What daughter I come in? Well, there's 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:14.959 ten tho people in front of the door. So I 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:17.720 have no idea. This is a once in a lifetime 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.720 Like literally, this is never ever gonna happen again. You know, 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:26.240 I only have one shot. We'll hear from the players, 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:31.800 their friends, family, coaches, teammates, and agents at Clutched Sports Group, 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:36.600 including Clutch Sports founder and CEO Rich Paul. My kids 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.800 asked me, I'll be flying commercial private now. I'm like, 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.280 where are y'all getting this stuff from? At least take 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:47.039 in Delton. From the college football season to the scouting 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:51.520 process to the draft itself, this year was anything but 0:01:51.640 --> 0:02:01.160 business as usual. Obviously made air Wina, you gotta understand 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:03.280 this has been a weird year. I mean, you're doing 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:06.520 interviews over zoom. Most people only have like first round 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:11.000 grades on like sixteen prospects in the first round. So 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.480 it's just so much uncertainty with prospects. Even with tens 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.360 of thousands of fans in Cleveland for the draft, only 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.680 thirteen players attended in person this year, one of whom 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:27.560 is Davante Smith, wide receiver from the University of Alabama. 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.520 I'm a black hat on black going low. I go 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.359 with the blue games to the black bag that one 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:40.600 not beside this year large set see the media. DeVante 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.160 had one of the indisputably greatest seasons in college football history. 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.160 He won the Heisman Trophy, the National Championship, the m 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.680 v P of the title Game, and was named the 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.880 Associated Press Player of the Year, along with almost every 0:02:55.919 --> 0:03:00.160 other award available to players at his position. Now the 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.600 most decorated wide receiver in thirty years, waits to find 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.639 out his future. He shops for pants and some T 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:13.360 shirts at the mall in Cleveland. I can try. I 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:18.280 got a pack of white t might be mediums. Might 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.880 be mediums because I only when my white teeth fresh 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:23.680 out the pat one time or nef I'm winning, it's 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.320 gonna be under another shirt. Come on, man, I think 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:31.560 I might go to large. Gaudy stats and a trophy 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.359 case full of awards still don't fully explain how dominant 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:40.880 Davante was this season. He was named the most valuable 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:45.240 player of the championship game against Ohio State, setting records 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.760 for catches and touchdowns despite only playing about half of 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.240 the game. He spans Chris Fowler summed it up during 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:59.960 the championship. Touchdown facement cannot restop he truly special performance 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:06.160 by the higspand trophy wedner three touchdowns in the first half, 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:11.160 and despite Davante's all inspiring performance throughout the entire year, 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.840 NFL scouts and draft analysts only want to talk about 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.400 the one question he's asking himself right now, Can he 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:22.360 really fit into a medium? They meet him on a 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:28.920 large the tea a medium, Davante is listed at six 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.599 ft even and one hundred and seventy pounds, and for 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.760 a variety of reasons, those are the only numbers NFL 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:38.600 teams seem to care about when discussing his draft prospects, 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.680 not the one hundred and seventeen catches last year for 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:47.279 over eight hundred yards and twenty three touchdowns, or the 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:51.240 nearly four thousand yards receiving and forty six touchdowns he 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:55.080 piled up over his college career. Teams openly question how 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:57.200 good he'll be as a pro because they don't think 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.200 he's big enough. In other words, they think you can't 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.800 be a great receiver in the NFL unless you wear 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:07.880 a large or an extra large. So as Davante gets 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.040 back to his hotel, he constantly has to watch and 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:15.160 listen to news stories like these on his phone, and 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:19.560 the conversation about him is his weight being a book 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:24.400 sixty six and whether not automatically discounts him from being drafted. 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:30.880 There's a difference between size and deal, and DeVante isn't 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.120 surprised by the doubters, even though he personally caught more 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.479 touchdowns over the season than the entire Ohio state team, 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:42.640 which finished second behind Alabama this past year. Being questioned 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:44.960 about his size is nothing new for a guy nicknamed 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:50.839 the Slim Reaper. Here's his mom, Christina Smiths Silvh, elaborating 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:55.800 he was always a little small, stroony, low key, but 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.560 as he went on eighth grade football started to be 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.320 more of a challenge for him. All of the guys 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.560 are like bigger than him, so they I'm not gonna 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:09.400 say they intimidated him, but it was a challenge. It 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:13.640 was a challenge. He wasn't just smaller than the other guys. 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.920 He was tiny in high school. Here's Vincent Sanders, his 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.720 long time mentor Barbara and close family friend. He's like 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:27.520 a so my freshman year hunt twenty some pounds, you 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:33.920 get hit, hit that man painful, you know what I'm saying. 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.719 So you're like, I'm small, you know, and so many 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:41.960 people like, oh man, you're small, show your So we're 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.880 seeing in his head too, same way, you know, people 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.120 talking about it. He's a kid, you know. You know 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:52.039 your job as a kid is to respect adult. So 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.880 you listen to what they're saying. But if a group 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:59.960 of don't say you're you're gonna start believing his mind, 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:06.000 Christina again, everybody talking about, you know, his way, everyone 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.240 doubting him. He tried not to let that get to 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.520 him mentally, but as a mother, you know, I I 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:17.360 know that guy to him, but I think that pushed him, 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:22.360 just trying to live up to that standard, just live 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.800 up to you know. I may be small, but I 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:30.120 have the heart of a lion. He wasn't just the 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.680 smallest guy in the football team either. He was the 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.840 smallest guy and almost every sport he played in, almost 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:39.559 every setting he played in. He was the smallest guy 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:43.400 in the neighborhood. And he always wanted to play with 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:47.080 the older guys, and if they didn't pick him, he 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.440 would get mad and take his basketball of football, and 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:53.360 then that would cause a little scuffle. But yeah, he 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.080 would get into a few scuffles every now and then, 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:59.320 and that mouth sometimes would get him. I never backed 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.440 down for nobody. I don't care who you are, how 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:05.440 old you is. This is Davante. I've always been scrapping, 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:07.920 Like I stayed in fight when I was young. I 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:09.880 was in trouble maker. I mean I stayed in trouble 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:13.120 and things like that growing up. And they meet Louisiana, 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.720 a real town of about four thousand. He constantly played 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.440 pickup basketball games at the neighborhood park near his house, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.560 often with older kids and his older cousins. Here's Vincent 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:30.520 Sanders again on those neighborhood games. Because he was just 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.000 at his age, so he was like the competition of 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:38.280 his age wasn't wasn't competition. So he come out through it. 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:40.040 The big boys. You know what I'm saying. So you 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:42.640 might have somebody out the thirty five years old that 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:47.560 played college ball. So know what they do. We're talking 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:54.000 grown his uncle's cousins. They ain't taking an he drive 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:58.480 away who and they like six three six four. Here 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:04.160 you are, five s coming through the lane. They're gonna 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.760 give you what you're looking for. They're getting that elba 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.240 that time, get up, you ain't you ain't hurt, just 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:14.560 just rules up to get up. Let's go. So he 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.280 you know him doing that, and they nobody took the 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:21.760 knees in on him. He tough, built four, toughest, tough 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:27.080 mentally and physically. So even doing his whole life, people 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:28.920 felt that like I was not so like they can 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.760 take advantage of me. That's why I stayed fighting because 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.600 I always like show like, nah, I ain't the one body, 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:36.199 so like you're gonna come over and messing with me, 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:38.760 Now we gotta fight. It was just like around here 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.679 was just like fight for your respect. If you just 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.200 let him keep doing it, they're gonna do it. But 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.080 once you, once you fight, they're gonna respect it. It 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:51.480 was one time, well because I had to do that part, 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.760 just like kept messing when me kept messing with me, 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.240 Like he told me straight. He was like, either you're 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.080 gonna fight him or you're gonna fight me. So I 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.480 fought other dude and just left it at that. Yeah, 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.040 he did get bullied a little bit. This is DeVante's mom, 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:09.400 Christina once again. But I think it helped him. You know, 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.679 he knew that he was the smallest kid, but he 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.880 was determined to play with the bigger kids. So I 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:19.480 think that kind of helps shape him and mold him 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.599 into the person that he is today. I may be 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:24.880 the smallest, but hey, I have the heart, I have 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.760 the drive. I'm gonna I'm gonna stick with it. I 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.400 want to play, So you know, I think it did 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:35.400 help him at you know, some aspects of his life. 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:54.240 We'll be right back. DeVante and a member of his 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.760 team at Clutch Sports, Carmel Mamalalu. Right back to the 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:00.560 hotel in Cleveland. They're on their way to a jersey 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:06.640 signing with another football legend. Like a ten or fifteen 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:10.160 minute window to do the Today Show. Yeah, I guess 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:15.680 film it today, it'll run tomorrow. Yeah, that's what I 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:20.240 just told Sean. So what's what's the Today Show? It's like, 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:27.360 what is it? Yeah, that's the Morning show Downtown. It's 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.920 like good morning shots on. Oh I know what you're 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:38.480 talking about that I think I know. Oh yeah, yeah yeah. 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:41.360 M For an introverted guy who might not know what 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:45.000 the Today Show is, DeVante's life is about to become 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:51.800 completely unrecognizable. I'm quiet, I don't like going out. I'm 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:55.360 to myself, like play sports, work out ground it. So 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.600 it was just like that's what I was around, and 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:01.320 that's all I could do. So that's wise just been. 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.400 It's just been what I do. Like his stature, his quiet, 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.319 humble confidence. It's easy to overlook in a sport full 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:12.600 of bigger players and larger than life personalities, especially in 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:17.400 the media climate built on shocking or controversial soundbites. Here's 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.880 his mom, Christina again, he's not the kid that wants 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.880 to go out to different parties or whatever. He didn't 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.360 do that in college. He didn't go to you know, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.760 parties or nothing like that. You know. He was more 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:34.360 of practice, get something to eat, go back to the apartment. 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:38.720 He doesn't think that the recognition is necessary. Like I 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.920 tell him, it's nothing wrong with being recognized. They want 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.360 to recognize you for your performance what you have done. 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:50.160 But with him is more of He likes to stay 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.199 in the background. He really doesn't like all of the attention. 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:57.840 But I told him, when you do great things, you 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.439 get the attention. You know, it's nothing wrong with that. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.319 DeVante and Garmet arrived back at the hotel and head 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.920 upstairs where they meet former Heisman Trophy winner in University 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:12.280 of Michigan great Desmond Howard. He was the last wide 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:17.280 receiver to win the award before Davante was going on, 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:34.160 good good, how about you appreciate Uh yeah, Roger, Yeah, 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:41.600 I had a law yeah. Davante was supposed to meet 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.520 Roger Goodell in person that morning, but its COVID test 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.080 came up positive. He had to re test twice and 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.760 by the time he got the two accurate negatives he'd 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:56.880 missed the meeting. This is part of the unique challenge 0:13:56.920 --> 0:14:00.480 for the thirteen players in Cleveland and for the NFL, 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:07.000 and hosting his first ever hybrid in person and virtual draft. 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:13.559 He should probably I'm saying, you got him off, you 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:23.560 got him most to go for whatever you want to 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:27.320 put on there. They're talking about what message to right 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.800 in the jerseys. Though, for Davante, this meeting signifies something 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:36.400 much bigger than swapping memorabilia. Howard played eleven NFL seasons, 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:38.760 made a Pro Bowl, and was the m v P 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.280 of Super Bowl thirty one. He still holds the record 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.640 for the longest return Super Bowl history. And he did 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:49.280 all of this at five ft ten and one five pounds. 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.320 If you went just shorter and only around ten pounds 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:57.080 heavier than DeVante, like Marvin Harrison and Tonio Brown and 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.240 de Sean Jackson, Desmond Howard is proof small receivers can 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:05.560 still be stars in the NFL. Here's Davante on that comparison. 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:11.680 It's a blessing to be compared to him, just with 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.000 everything that he's done, and he's done everything right, So 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.520 I mean, I'm trying to get where he is right now. 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:19.000 So I'm for show. Digg into some of his film, 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.160 take some of the stuff out of his two box 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.800 that he has. Remember we did the zoom we when 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:25.960 I have my son. Yeah, I got the twin boys. 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:27.600 I just always trying to collect these for him, you 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.280 know what I I mean? Yeah, so this is perfect, my man. 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:36.040 Get out your hair, graduation. Appreciate best of luck. Man, appreciate, 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:44.920 Appreciate at the very least, to enjoy yourself. Celebration, celebration. 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:47.800 A lot of people, A lot of people in this position. 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.680 Like that's when Howard says, not many people are ever 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:59.400 in the position. Davante finds himself and now twenty four 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.800 hours from the NFL Draft, exchanging jerseys with other Heisman 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:06.880 Trophy winners, booking morning show appearances on the cusp of 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.200 his dreams coming true, and tens of millions of dollars 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:15.840 heading his way. How many people get here, regardless of 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:18.680 where they come from. Even fewer arrived at this moment 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:22.280 from towns as small and remote as they meet Louisiana. 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:26.640 Here's Davante, and now his small town upbringing shaped his worldview. 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:29.760 It at me that ain't nothing to do, so I 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:33.240 feel like it's molding me. I mean big though, you guys, 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.360 Walt Moret, you gotta win, Dick, see what I mean. 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:38.120 That's pretty much. You gotta come fast f places, signing 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:40.960 Madala stuff like that. But I mean, it ain't nothing 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:43.200 to do. And they meet outside of a lot of 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.280 sports and stuff like that. But I was by my 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:47.920 pops a lot too, So like when I'm home and 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.000 a meet, it's like sports. When I'm out there by 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.200 my pop, it's like we in the woods. I had 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.320 the best of both worlds, just being like exploring nature 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.440 and stuff like that, like we can squirrel and stuff 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:02.360 like that, like we shooting squirrels, just playing around in 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.239 the woods and stuff like that. DeVante's parents were no 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.240 longer together, and he spent most weekends staying with his dad. 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:12.640 One specific memory in the Louisiana Biou stands out back 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.359 when he was barely a teenager playing in the woods 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:22.359 with his cousins. I was probably like twelve thirteen, and 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.000 like it was raining by my pops is like a creek, 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.560 so like when it rained, like it was a lot, 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:30.000 So we was deep in the woods, like this is 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.160 the first time and last time we ever went by 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:36.400 the creek. Never been back there again. So it's pouring down. 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:41.480 Rating water is like knee high, and like when you 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.000 first get into it, you don't see how flooded it is. 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:47.080 So like you're walking for a good little minute and 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.360 then it's like all of a sudden, just get flooded 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:51.320 and we just see how hot the water is. And 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.280 then like we just started hearing stuff. My older cousin 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.720 he like, what's this. I'm I don't hear that. He 0:17:57.800 --> 0:17:59.919 was like, man, that's that's that's sounding hog, I know 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.480 sound a hall Farrell hawks in Louisiana can weigh over 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.240 five hundred pounds and can grow four to five inch 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:10.560 long tuss along with sharp pointed teeth that looked like fangs. 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.320 This is what Davante and his cousins think that we're 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:17.320 hearing nearby and the flooded value. So we go to 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:21.280 looking and then like we see it, so like everybody 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.200 don't move, everybody to sit there. So like were just 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:25.439 sitting at the hall with the sit you. He was like, 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:27.840 we can't see him for help. We're gonna make the 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:30.760 only thing in my mind was you out run one person. 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.200 You know you you're gonna be good. The last person 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:35.960 that's up to you what happened with you and the all. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.440 So it was just like on the count of three, 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:44.720 everybody take you all running. Nobody knews it because like 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.080 it's flooded, not so like it's no tracks to show 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:48.439 you what what are you're going back to? So it 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:52.960 was just like just right, everybody follows. Somebody just hoped 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.920 it we end up getting somewhere, so we take off running. 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:59.840 I wasn't looking back, but I know Shan wouldn't laughing. 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.800 Not when when you pick go running for your life 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:04.960 from a giant wild hog and a swamp may not 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:09.280 directly translate into developing NFL ready speed, but it sure 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.720 doesn't hurt. It's another example of the smallest guy always 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:17.040 making sure he never got caught. Because DeVante spent his 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.399 entire youth fighting or fleeing bullies on the playground, the 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.240 would be tacklers on the gridiron and wild animals in 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:29.120 the woods, there's a reason his coach, Nick Saban said 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.600 he competes as well pound for pound as anybody that 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:36.000 I've ever had the chance to coach. Tell many how 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:38.879 many receivers are tougher than he is, that block better, 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.879 that play more physical than he does. That's high praise 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.720 coming from the most successful coach in college football history. 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.160 The question is, will NFL teams be able to look 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.880 past the size of his jersey and focus on what's 0:19:51.960 --> 0:20:10.159 underneath it instead? We'll be right act. Becoming the DeVante Smith, 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:11.879 who has talked about as a top pick in the 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:16.480 NFL Draft, didn't happen by chance, Not when you're the 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:19.760 smallest kid who everyone doubts. He had to turn that 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:23.040 one and twenty pound high school freshman into the most 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:27.119 dominant player in college football. Here's Clutched Sports founder and 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:31.280 CEO Rich Paul describing what he saw when meeting DeVante 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:36.160 in Los Angeles for the first time. When I met 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:39.280 DeVante for the first time, I knew it. I asked me, 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:40.359 I said, you know, what do you want to do 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:42.879 if I just want to go? You know, he was 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:47.240 in l A. No anything we can help you with, 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.640 get you you want to see something? Now, I'm good. 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:54.040 You know, we take the meeting, but maybe did somebody 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.320 eat didn't do a t other shop and didn't want 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:58.399 to go look at the cars and direct that, And 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:01.080 it's just like not that it is anything wrong with 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:03.520 any of that. He just didn't have no interest. I 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:07.600 was like, oh, he's serious about football. He's serious about football, 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:10.280 which I love, which is why he was so good. 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:14.760 Here's his mom, Christina again describing when her son's determination 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.439 grew even if the rest of his frame didn't keep up. 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:21.959 I knew the talent was there early on, but his 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:26.359 sophomore year in in high school is when I knew 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:30.880 that Davante had what it took. He had the work ethic, 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:35.360 he had the drive and determination. He's always wanted to 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.240 play in the NFL. That's always been a dream of his. 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:42.679 But I really saw it his sophomore year in high school. 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:46.520 We live right next to a park, so he would 0:21:46.520 --> 0:21:48.520 get up and he will go to the park and 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:52.879 and run. He had the cones, he had the cape 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.199 to put on to help him with his speed. It 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:59.320 was like he had whatever he needed to try to 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:03.359 get himself better. He did it. He did drills in 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:07.080 the park before school, practiced and lifted weights after school, 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:11.520 and even developed a routine during the day. I had 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:15.000 a time on my phone for like every hour, do 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:17.359 thirty push up. So like I'll be in class and 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.240 like the time I'll go off, like I just do 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:23.320 something again, just be like teachers would be like, you 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:25.800 can't be you can't be having your phone or on off. 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:27.800 But this high got away with it. It It was like 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:31.280 every class is only four to five minutes at the most, 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:33.399 so it's only gonna ring once in every class, Like 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:36.600 you can't report me for doing push ups. So it 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:39.000 was just like it's nothing you can do besides tell me, like, 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:40.880 you get up and stop doing this. By by time 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:42.320 you do that, I've been at them a thirty hour. 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:44.760 So every time ring, I just like my fault. I 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:46.560 didn't know, and I just do the push up and 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:49.000 be like I ain't gonna worry about this class. When 0:22:49.040 --> 0:22:50.840 it first started, they was like, what are you doing? 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:52.359 What are you doing? Push us fun? And I'll just 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:54.840 be like, oh, I just had to do them real quick. 0:22:55.280 --> 0:22:57.320 And then like he got to a point like everybody 0:22:57.320 --> 0:22:59.879 if they knew, like that was a consistent thing, so 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:01.760 it was just like just let him do it, so 0:23:01.840 --> 0:23:04.359 let him going and get knocked. The way he was 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:07.639 so consistent with his mid class push ups, teachers and 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:11.040 students all grew accustomed to his alarm going off, him 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:13.600 dropping and doing thirty and then going right back to 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:17.359 the Pythagorean theorem and the Lord of the Flies. And 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:20.200 while he honed his body throughout high school, he also 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:23.320 had to develop his killer instinct. He even if that 0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:25.760 meant learning to be more selfish. In the final moments 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:33.720 of his high school teams playoff basketball game, his seconds off, 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:37.080 We're down one and everybody wants me to take the shot, 0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:39.760 but like trapped me. I had a screen, said someone 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:41.520 of the screen came like they trapped me, like someone's 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:44.440 wide open. So like I passed it and he didn't 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:47.479 shoot it. He passed again like my best friend had 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:49.840 shot the ball. He missed, and then he came to 0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:51.800 me and he was like, man, I don't care if 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:54.320 it was five people. You know you're supposed to take 0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:56.280 that last shot. And then I was like that stuck 0:23:56.280 --> 0:23:57.679 with me, and I was just like all right, like 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:01.320 forget trying to give it to the old like carst time. 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:03.640 I don't care I many people on me. I want 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:05.600 to be in that moment like and that stuff with me. 0:24:05.640 --> 0:24:08.399 Since then they're like five people on the they double me, 0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:10.760 and he still say, like, you know, that's your shot, 0:24:10.800 --> 0:24:12.960 because like that's what everybody expect for me. If we 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:15.640 had a hold of right now. Everybody see if I'm 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:18.280 taking the last shot, everybody gonna say you just because 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:19.879 like that's what you do. So it was just like 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:23.040 that moment, always steak with mean. I never let nothing 0:24:23.080 --> 0:24:25.800 else happened like that again, game on line. I'm telling 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:27.400 you right now, give me the ball. I ain't trying 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:29.520 to heat with nobody else, gotta say throw me the ball. 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:32.639 The very next year, this lesson came into play with 0:24:32.680 --> 0:24:35.520 a different ball, on a different field and not a 0:24:35.640 --> 0:24:41.119 much much bigger stage. It's the college football season and 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:45.280 Davante is a freshman receiver at Alabama, playing behind multiple 0:24:45.320 --> 0:24:48.560 future first round draft picks at wide receiver. The team 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:52.000 makes it to the National Championship game against the Georgia Bulldogs, 0:24:52.440 --> 0:24:54.600 and Georgia takes it to the Crimson Tide in the 0:24:54.640 --> 0:24:58.080 first half. Alabama is down thirteen to zero as they 0:24:58.119 --> 0:25:04.159