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Denver Native (Carol)
05-26-2009, 12:35 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_12448029

The rookie cornerback out of Wake Forest is bringing brainpower to the Broncos.

Had it been possible to cram Denver's football fans into a Wake Forest history class a few years back, there might be less critique of the Broncos for surrendering a future first-round draft pick in exchange for selecting Alphonso Smith in the second round.

Smith will get thoroughly tested as a rookie cornerback in the next three weeks as the Broncos open their "passing camp" today at Dove Valley.

The beauty of becoming a professional player is that academic distractions disappear.

Count on Smith to make a quick intellectual adjustment to pro ball. It was his sophomore year at Wake Forest and, unlike the stereotypical football player, Smith was serious about his class, "History of the United States since World War II."

According to classmate Michael Earls, Smith displayed the resourcefulness, ingenuity, confidence and even physical skill that made him the very definition of the term student-athlete.

"He was a very funny and nice guy throughout the semester, but I didn't really appreciate how awesome he was until the day of our exam," Earls said while sharing the story last month.

A week before the final, the class professor assigned 10 essay questions to study. Ten? Only one would be picked for the final — by a dart throw. With his Demon Deacons preparing for an Orange Bowl meeting against Louisville and finals in other classes, Smith quickly figured studying nine essay topics for naught was a poor economical use of his time.

Earls studied all 10 essay topics, but on the day of the exam, Smith walked in with a cunning smile and tip for his classmates to place all focus on essay question No. 2. And for assurance, let him be the one to throw the dart.

"Everyone was freakin' out," Smith said. "They were like, 'Oh, my God, I need to pass this class.' I was like, 'Hey, I need to pass this class too.' I said, 'Don't worry about it, we're going to do No. 2.' "

No. 2 was Smith's football number at Wake Forest. He is wearing No. 33 with the Broncos after he was acquired through an eyebrow-raising draft trade last month.

Three years earlier, it was time for the final exam and the professor asked for a volunteer to throw the dart. Smith was unanimously chosen.

"He gave the class a little wink, stepped up and absolutely nailed the spot marked No. 2," Earls said.

Once the eruption rarely heard from a college history class had calmed, Smith announced his strategy to his professor and classmates. Rather than laboriously researching 10 topics, he picked the subject he knew best, studied it thoroughly — and then practiced throwing darts all week.

Neither Earls or Smith could specifically remember the topic of essay question No. 2, only that it was comprehensively covered during the semester — and they aced it. Smith wound up graduating with a degree in history.

"I was going to be a lawyer," Smith said. "Then I figured out I was pretty good in football."

Last month, the Broncos traded one of their two first-round picks in the 2010 draft to Seattle so they could take the 5-foot-9 Smith with the No. 37 overall selection in the second round.

Is Smith worth a first-round pick? Well, at Wake Forest he demonstrated an uncanny knack for making big plays. And that was just in the classroom.

Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com

Busy time for Broncos

Some key dates on the Broncos' remaining offseason schedule leading up to the regular season, the 50th in franchise history. Workouts are at the team's Dove Valley headquarters:

Passing camp (voluntary): Today-Friday, June 2-5, June 8-10

Minicamp (mandatory): June 12-14

Conditioning (voluntary): June 15-19, June 22-26

Training camp: Starts in late July

Preseason opener: Aug. 14 at San Francisco, 8 p.m.

Regular-season opener: Sept. 13 at Cincinnati, 11 a.m.

Regular-season home opener: Sept. 20 vs. Cleveland, 2:15 p.m.

NightTrainLayne
05-26-2009, 12:42 PM
That's a great story. I love it.

Slick
05-26-2009, 12:45 PM
That's a great story. I love it.

I groaned on draft day, but he makes it hard not to like him. Good find Carol.

Requiem / The Dagda
05-26-2009, 12:45 PM
I groaned on draft day, but he makes it hard not to like him. Good find Carol.

I moaned, he was my favorite corner in the draft. :beer: Yes Carol, great article. Thank you!

SoCalImport
05-26-2009, 12:48 PM
Savvy guy. (don't see what it has to do with it being a good pick though). [shrug]


Oh... duh... nvm.. the title of the article misled me :)

Slick
05-26-2009, 12:51 PM
I moaned, he was my favorite corner in the draft. :beer: Yes Carol, great article. Thank you!

I haven't seen college football in 2 years.

Superchop 7
05-26-2009, 01:37 PM
Smart midget.

Hawgdriver
05-26-2009, 06:37 PM
I love that article, thanks Carol.

EMB6903
05-26-2009, 07:51 PM
Smith has it all aside from the size

Heart, confidence, Asante Samuel type ball skills, great attitude, intelligent, very reliable against the run, and most important the kid has Swag

I think hes going to be the best Broncos draft pick of 2009

NameUsedBefore
05-26-2009, 08:22 PM
Cool story, impressive article-title.

ikillz0mbies
05-26-2009, 11:06 PM
Great read! I'm really warming up to Smith. With his intelligence, he can be a great ball hawk in this league, despite his short stature.

WARHORSE
05-27-2009, 12:12 PM
Lets hope he begins his career with a bang. I like his mental make-up. I think he can learn a ton from Champ and Dawk and become a real force.

My goal for him is 5 to 6 picks this season.


But first..........stop the run.