Wednesday, February 16, 2000Smith arrives early to show he's 'serious'
Bengals QB urges teammates to join him
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerAkili Smith knows the Bengals are now his team.
The Bengals' quarterback of the future sat in the Spinney Field locker room Tuesday for the first time without Jeff Blake on the roster.
“That's why I'm here today,” Smith said. “Showing the coaches and the rest of the staff I'm serious about this year.”
Some of his teammates wondered what he was doing last season as a rookie when he spoke up in the locker room.
They won't this season, because there will be no holdout at training camp like last season. He reported to work this time 73 days before mini-camp.
Smith didn't back off on urging everyone — including himself — to study as much as possible. He invoked the image of Blake studying his playbook during lunch.
“I'll be accountable for everything that I'm trying to do on the field,” Smith said. “I'm trying to make my teammates better and turn this franchise around. I love the challenge. I've been challenged all my life, since I was playing Pop Warner football.”
Smith looked around, saw three other players, and decided there was no reason players shouldn't be back at Spinney working out. He plans to phone other players to try to bring them in.
“It's all about having the attitude,” Smith said. “Once we get over to (the new stadium) and guys get kind of refreshed from what has happened in the '90s with the Bengals, the coaching staff, the media, ev erything else, that kind of dies down a little bit. The New Bengals settle in and have a new attitude, a new outlook about things, and get some ballgames won.”
Offensive coordinator Ken Anderson is going to join Smith. On Tuesday, they went over the 60 snaps he took in his first two games against San Diego and St.Louis. Over the next two months before mini-camp, the two will review all of Smith's plays from last season and work on how to improve his skills on the field.
Smith's receivers will arrive when the weather gets warmer. For now, Anderson is pleased to have Smith as a captive audience.
Because of NCAA rules, Smith worked out just six days before training camp last year. Then he missed the camp's first 27 practices because of a contract holdout.
“He'll see how things fit together and what we're thinking about,” Anderson said of Smith this season. “We installed most (of the playbook) in offseason camps, which he missed. Then we did it again in training camp, which he missed. He'll be a little bit more organized understanding the offense.”
Smith saw the negativity kill this team last season. “If there's no negativity in the locker room, I think we'll be fine,” he said.
“There are some people on the team who really don't care about winning. They care about the money. There are probably some guys — not only in Cincinnati; I'm talking about in the NFL, period. There are guys like that out there. I think (more) guys here care about winning in this locker room than paychecks.”
Smith decided not to address wide receiver Carl Pickens' trade demands. He said it's be tween the club and Pickens. He'd rather talk about the Ken Griffey Jr. trade.
“With the Griffey signing, and the new stadium(s), we've got an opportunity to rebuild Cincinnati into a powerhouse in sports.”
Smith helped build Oregon into a Pacific 10 contender the summer between his junior and senior year when he coaxed and willed his teammates to stay on campus to work.
“Just imagine 50 guys walking around here,” Smith said. “Guys were serious about it. We knew we had a lot of talent. But it's not about talent. It's about executing.”
Bengals Stories
Smith cleared to throw
Smith arrives early to show he's 'serious'
Key players to visit Bengals
Deion offers 'plan' to play for Bengals
Bengals changing uniforms?
Stadium bill up $14.3M
Deion tries to make up for lost time
Fernandez joins pitching prospects
Xavier 95, Duquesne 66
XU's Hamilton signs off for year
Another banner year for Bearcats
Michigan St. 83, Ohio St. 72
NKU 68, Indianapolis 66
Landry legacy is business over sentiment
Cincinnati boys basketball roundup
Cincinnati girls basketball roundup
Mason repeats as state poll champs
St. Xavier drops from Ohio No. 1
Ursuline swimmer seeks to conquer world
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
N.Ky. boys basketball roundup
N.Ky. girls basketball roundup
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Top black teams meet for Classic