Jimmy Smith (cornerback)

Early life

Born in Fontana, California, Smith grew up in a single-floor home in Colton, California, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The neighborhood Smith lived in was notoriously bad. "It's a rough neighborhood," said Smith. "A lot of gangs. A lot of gang violence. A lot of people get shot and killed all the time." However, Smith was able to shrug this off and excel at football from an early age.

High school

Smith attended Colton High School in his hometown, where he was a three-year letterman in football. He garnered honorable mention all-league accolades on defense as a sophomore starting at safety, when he had 45 tackles and four interceptions on the season-his first year playing football. As a junior, he was named first-team all-league and second-team all-county on defense. He had 30 catches for 600 yards and four touchdowns on offense, and at his cornerback spot, he tallied 57 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception and eight passes broken up. In his final year, he was first-team All-Southeastern Conference on both offense (wide receiver) and defense (cornerback). He was named first-team all-county and his team's most improved player. On offense, he had 53 receptions for 1,123 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 21.2 yards per catch, while defensively, he totaled 47 tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, two interceptions and 15 pass deflections. He also averaged 36 yards on punt returns with one touchdown. Under coach Harold Strauss, his team went a combined 30-6 in his three years playing football: 9-3 as a senior, 10-2 as a junior and 11-1 as a sophomore; Colton advanced to the second round of the playoffs each year. Smith also lettered in basketball and track & field at Colton, earning a combined seven letters between the two.

College

Jimmy Smith was another surprise out of Dan Hawkins' transition class of 2006, like Nate Solder, Jimmy was a middle of the pack recruit out of his home state of California (No. 57 Athlete by Rivals and unranked as a corner by ESPN) that grew into a first round prospect on a series of very mediocre Colorado teams. During the 2007 season Jimmy Smith firmly established himself as a contributor, a special teams star, and as part of the secondary depth. By far the biggest play of his 2007 season came against Nebraska. With Colorado trailing by 11, Smith picked off a Joe Ganz pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. It sparked a 34-0 run, and Colorado would go on to win 65-51 over Nebraska.

Smith built nicely on his RS-Freshman effort playing in 10 games for CU and starting the final three at corner, a position he'd hold through the rest of his CU career. Again Smith closed the season with fireworks against Nebraska sniffing out an ill-advised fake field goal attempt by the huskers, intercepting the lateral and taking it 58 yards for a touchdown. Things continued to progress well for Smith who took over the starting corner spot full-time at the start of his Jr. season, holding it through his last game at CU in that 2 year 24 game run Jimmy gave up an average of 1 completion a game. During that span Smith made quite a name for himself totaling 70 tackles in both seasons defending 15 passes and posing such a threat to offenses he was thrown at a mere 20 times as a Senior in man coverage. In that time Smith was honored as: All-big 12 twice, the Dave Jones award winner, and was named to the Thorpe Award watch list.

Pre-Draft Concerns

Through his high school and college careers, Smith battled occasional issues with the law which resulted in some pre-draft concerns about his maturity. It was reported he failed three drug tests, and had been charged with aggravated assault.

2011 season

Smith was selected with the 27th pick overall by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2011 NFL Draft. On the 20th of November, 2011, Smith made his first career interception off an errant Andy Dalton pass against the Cincinnati Bengals. After a 16-yard return he had the ball knocked out of his arm by a Bengal, which was subsequently recovered by Brendon Ayanbadejo. He notched his second interception in a Week 13 matchup against the Cleveland Browns. In the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Houston Texans, fellow cornerback Cary Williams tackled Jacoby Jones on a punt, forced a fumble, and Smith recovered it only a few yards away from the endzone. A week later, Smith had his third interception of the season in the AFC Championship against the New England Patriots. The ball was tipped from Bernard Pollard and intercepted by Jimmy Smith. Overall, Smith was the #3 cornerback behind Lardarius Webb and Williams. Smith had 20 tackles as a rookie.

2012 season

Smith's individual effort on the final goal line stand of Super Bowl XLVII was instrumental in the Ravens' victory, as he was targeted on consecutive plays during the 49ers' last offensive drive in the game, preventing the Niners from scoring on 4th down in the final minutes of the game by San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

2013 season

Smith recorded his 1st interception of the season in Week 6 against Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers when he picked him off in the end zone.

2014 season

Smith intercepted his first pass of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jimmy Smith was on pace for a Pro Bowl year before he sprained his foot in week 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Smith would be put on the Ravens' season-ending IR.

2015 season

On April 21, 2015, the Ravens signed Smith to a four-year contract extension worth $48 million with $21 million guaranteed.

Smith went on to have 53 tackles, 1 sack, and 3 interceptions in 2015 season.

2016 season

Smith started all 11 games he played in, totaling 32 tackles and four pass deflections. He suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 14 against the Patriots and was placed on injured reserve on December 30, 2016.

Key

Personal life

Over the 2014 Memorial Day weekend, three Baltimore Ravens players including Smith were tossed out of an Ocean City, Maryland nightclub. Reports state Smith, Jacoby Jones and Bernard Pierce were all asked to leave for an inability to “maintain their composure”.

On July 13, 2014 Smith was arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after an alleged incident at a suburban Baltimore bar. Smith was the 5th Baltimore Raven arrested in the 2014 NFL Offseason.

He is cousins with Nat Berhe who plays safety in the NFL.