Saturday, April 10, 1999
Smith makes bid for Bengals
Oregon QB expects to be 1st or 3rd pick
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Oregon quarterback Akili Smith may be a one-year wonder, but the Bengals wonder if they can get a shot at the NFL draft's strongest arm a week from today.
“I really believe I'm going 1 (to Cleveland) or 3 (to Cincinnati), and that's no problem at all,” Smith said during Friday's visit to Spinney Field. “(The Bengals) told me they'll take whatever quarterback is left out at the top — (Tim) Couch, (Donovan) McNabb or me.”
And Smith thinks he'll have the answer Monday or Tuesday, when the Browns have told him they will start negotiating with their pick.
Some Bengals officials told McNabb on Monday they think he probably will come to Cincinnati. They say Philadelphia, picking No.2, plans to take Couch or Smith, whomever Cleveland doesn't take. But Smith thinks McNabb is going No.2 no matter what.
“Me and McNabb showed the scouts the competitive side in us,” said Smith, who thinks his desire to work out anywhere, any time has put him on the verge of the No.1 pick and buried Central Florida quarterback Daunte Culpepper.
Bengals President Mike Brown and his brain trust won't rank the prospects. But Bengals scouts seem to favor Smith's arm and economical throwing motion while the coaches like Couch's experience in the tough Southeastern Conference.
“I won't tell you how we rank them, but we will rank them next week, although I think the teams ahead of us will make the pick for us,”
Brown said. “(Smith) has the same characteristics as (Terry) Bradshaw. The ball really rockets, and it comes from a tight motion. His arm comes back very quickly. There's very little wind-up.”
Of the three QBs, Smith, who turns 24 in August, is the most charismatic; he talks of rallying veterans to his side. He gained maturity from 21/2 years playing baseball in the Pirates organization and paid his dues at Grossmont Junior College before coming off the Oregon bench to stardom this past season.
Plus, two legal jams within two weeks in February 1998 woke him up. Smith was arrested for drunk driving Feb.1 and was sent to a diversionary program after it was found he was barely under Oregon's legal limit. On Feb.14 he was arrested with a teammate for assault, trespassing and harassment stemming from a nightclub incident. He was acquitted.
“I was doing too much hanging out and partying,” Smith said. “It got me to start focusing why I was in college. After the brushes with the law, I settled down, relaxed. I looked in the mirror and asked myself, "Do I want to be a college dropout, or do I want the opportunity to play in the NFL?'”
Smith has more than picked up the gauntlet with a take-on-all-comers workout season. He threw 75 passes in sessions with the Browns and Eagles and “was begging for more.”
He noticed that Couch threw only about 40 times in his NFL workout and that after the Browns saw Smith work, they wanted to take another look at Couch on Sunday in Lexington.
“I guess that highered the standard for Couch. Now Couch has to throw 75 passes to see if he can hang,” Smith said. “I ran faster 40 times. They want him to do the shuttle drills and the three-cone drills. ... I should rate out higher ... Who knows? They may pick Couch, me or Ricky Williams. ... I'm not saying I'm the best quarterback (in the draft). There's a lot of good ones out there.”
But he is saying he wants to play. Now. He wants to learn the speed of the game this year and then go to the Super Bowl in 2001.
“No excuses after that at all,” Smith said. “(The Bengals) say once I throw the accurate balls, do the right things, come up with right reads, they want to get me on the field. I should have enough time before the season starts to learn the playbook and get out there and play.”
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