Little brother looks for big success
Rhett Bollinger
Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Sports
The quarterback goes back and throws a pass, and Smith plucks the ball out of the air and runs into the end zone for a USC touchdown.
Sound familiar?
But no, this wasn't former Trojan Steve Smith catching a pass on offense. It's his little brother Malcolm Smith intercepting a pass from Aaron Corp during Thursday's spring practice.
Malcolm isn't a wide receiver like his brother, but a 6-foot-2, 215-pound athletic linebacker.
It is clear, however, that Malcolm, who could be called Steve's "big" little brother, has the instincts of Steve, who won two national titles at USC and finished his four-year collegiate career in 2006 as the school's
No. 5 career pass catcher.
Malcolm drew the praise of USC coach Pete Carroll last season when he was compared to former Trojan linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who was an All-American in 2004 and now is widely considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL.
At the time, Carroll said Smith had a similar skill set to Tatupu, but that Smith was even more athletic.
Carroll is still singing praises about Smith, who impressed in special teams plays last season and is now impressing as a linebacker in spring practice.
He was particularly excited about Smith's interception returned for a touchdown Thursday.
"Our expectations are really high for him," Carroll said. "We know he's an instinctive kid and he is a great all-around athlete. He really showed it on that play. He looked like he's been making interceptions all his life and took off running."
A defensive player returning an interception for a touchdown has been a rarity for USC in the last few years; the last time it happened was the first game of the 2005 season when Darnell Bing returned an interception 65 yards against Hawaii.
It's been 38 games since that touchdown - something the defense is well aware of, and something Smith said he hopes to change if he gets the chance.
"It's definitely a focus of ours, talking about getting interceptions and increasing our opportunities by just catching the ball," Smith said. "Coach Carroll definitely harped on trying to score as we are always trying to score points and protect the ball."
Sound familiar?
But no, this wasn't former Trojan Steve Smith catching a pass on offense. It's his little brother Malcolm Smith intercepting a pass from Aaron Corp during Thursday's spring practice.
Malcolm isn't a wide receiver like his brother, but a 6-foot-2, 215-pound athletic linebacker.
It is clear, however, that Malcolm, who could be called Steve's "big" little brother, has the instincts of Steve, who won two national titles at USC and finished his four-year collegiate career in 2006 as the school's
No. 5 career pass catcher.
Malcolm drew the praise of USC coach Pete Carroll last season when he was compared to former Trojan linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who was an All-American in 2004 and now is widely considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL.
At the time, Carroll said Smith had a similar skill set to Tatupu, but that Smith was even more athletic.
Carroll is still singing praises about Smith, who impressed in special teams plays last season and is now impressing as a linebacker in spring practice.
He was particularly excited about Smith's interception returned for a touchdown Thursday.
"Our expectations are really high for him," Carroll said. "We know he's an instinctive kid and he is a great all-around athlete. He really showed it on that play. He looked like he's been making interceptions all his life and took off running."
A defensive player returning an interception for a touchdown has been a rarity for USC in the last few years; the last time it happened was the first game of the 2005 season when Darnell Bing returned an interception 65 yards against Hawaii.
It's been 38 games since that touchdown - something the defense is well aware of, and something Smith said he hopes to change if he gets the chance.
"It's definitely a focus of ours, talking about getting interceptions and increasing our opportunities by just catching the ball," Smith said. "Coach Carroll definitely harped on trying to score as we are always trying to score points and protect the ball."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Caleb Z. Bodine
posted 4/02/08 @ 6:34 PM PST
SHOOT-THAT'S NOT ANYTHING NEW FOR MY MAN TAFT FOOTBALLER- MALCOLM SMITH.MALCOLM DID THIS WITH REGULARITY AT TAFT High Woodland Hills Ca. .WAY TO GO MADDOGG. (Continued…)
Theresa
posted 5/03/08 @ 11:15 AM PST
The Smith brothers are some talented I now we will be seeing Malcolm in the future.
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