Editor’s note: Baltimore Watchdog reporters enrolled in a sports journalism course conducted group interviews with Towson athletes. Below are their profile stories.
By Benjamin Murphy
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Caleb Smith wasn’t sure if he’d ever play football again. It was 2013, and Smith had just caught a pass on a bubble screen when he hit the turf. It was the worst pain he’d ever felt.
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors checked on his lower body. Smith had a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee. Doctors told him he might have to give up his dream of playing football at a high level.
“I just wanted to hide,” Smith remembers thinking. “I didn’t even go to my [team’s] games. I didn’t want to be seen. I didn’t want to be around anybody.”
But Smith, a redshirt senior on the Towson football team, didn’t let the injury end his football career. He wasn’t willing to give up on the sport he had played since he was a child.
Smith grew up in a sports family in Albany, New York. His father, Rodney Smith, played professional football and is a member of the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame. His mother was also an athlete, so Smith knew he would have sports in his future at a young age.
Caleb Smith started playing flag football before he was 5, and he played soccer growing up. As soon as he could play tackle football, he did.
“As long as I can remember I’ve been playing sports,” Smith said.
Smith modeled his play off of his favorite former and current wide receivers.
“I just want to be me, but I’ll take things from other people,” he said. “Keenan Allen has nice releases. I’m fast so I’ll look at Tyreek Hill. I’m strong so I’ll look at DK Metcalf. If I want to see someone with my breaks I look at Ochocinco.”
His love for the game and studying of the NFL’s top receivers made him a standout player. Up until his knee injury sidelined him for several years, wiping out his chance at playing varsity football in high school.
Once his injuries were repaired and healed in 2016, he began his training to get himself back to the level he always knew he had in him.
“I never played a varsity sport or anything,” he said. “So that’s when my dreams of playing Division I had to get a little more serious… I knew if I didn’t put everything I had into it, it wasn’t going to happen.”
Smith decided to enroll in Towson without a football scholarship. He chose the school in part because his dad went there, but also because his uncle, who was sick at the time, lived in Baltimore.
The path to making the football team was not easy for Smith, as the only way to be around the team his first year was to be hired as a team manager.
“I called coach [Rob] Ambrose, asking if there’s a way I can work out with the team or be at practice,” Smith said. “He told me to talk to Lance, in charge of operations, who said I have to work to be at practice, equipment manager basically. I was put to work.”
Smith viewed this as an opportunity to show his dedication to the team — sort of a personal tryout, as he called it. His work and dedication to benefiting the team did not go unnoticed, as the next year he received an invite to try out.
“He had been around us and knew what to expect,” Ambrose said. “That coupled with his athleticism, we knew we had to give him a shot.”
Smith made the team in 2017, playing in three games. The next season, he saw action in eight games, tallying five catches for 39 yards. In 2019, his redshirt junior year, he was second on the team in receptions with 35 and receiving yards with 570.
His dedication to becoming the player he is after his injury inspired his teammates.
“His injury has inspired me because it lets me know that some obstacles are going to happen in life, and what you do with them will have an effect in your life,” said Jabari Allen, wide receiver on the Towson football team. “They told him that he couldn’t play football, and he said ‘I’m going to.’”
With no fall 2020 football season due to COVID-19, Smith has to wait again to play football. But waiting is something he’s used to. He’s just glad to have the opportunity to play.
“I always thought things happen for a reason,” he said. “So I knew not to give up and I would make it through.”
By Charles Whiting
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Wide receiver Caleb Smith was doing everything from making catches on big plays to returning punts. The coach at La Salle Institute in New York wanted the ball in his hands.
“I was doing really well that game,” Smith said. “So the coach kept feeding me the ball, and that play was designed for somebody else, but he actually was like, ‘No put Caleb here so he gets the ball.’”
“That play,” in 2013, turned out to be costly for Smith. He still remembers it clearly all these years later.
Smith was lined up for a bubble screen. When he caught the ball, there was a defender coming at him, so he went to plant and cut, but his foot got stuck in the turf. One defender hit Smith in his knee and another hit him up top. When the pile cleared, Smith couldn’t get up. He felt pain like never felt before.
“It just feels like if you ever hit your funny bone, it feels like that times 1,000,” he said.
Smith suffered a torn ACL and meniscus. He had a series of surgeries. Doctors said he might never be able to play football again. But Smith wouldn’t accept that as reality.
Smith found hope when all hope was lost, when he came across the option of a meniscus transplant. About a year-and-a-half later, around 2016, the doctors found a match for the transplant and Smith traveled to Boston to receive a successful surgery. From there on Smith began his journey to playing football again.
A redshirt senior wide receiver for Towson University, Smith has taken a lot of punishing hits over his career, but a global pandemic was one that neither he nor anyone else saw coming. Like other players, Smith had to sit out the 2020 fall football season, but he was better prepared than most.
“The injury, everything, it was just me,” Smith said. “So right now, [missing a season] is kind of easy. I’m just being patient because I already know things work out. Things are going to work out, I’m just being patient.”
Smith, son of Towson Athletics Hall of Famer Rodney Smith, has played sports for as long as he can remember. Since his dad played professional football and his mom is an athlete, it was almost inevitable that Smith would play sports.
Smith began playing flag football at four years old and began tackle football as soon as he reached the eligible age. His injury was the first time in a long time he wasn’t playing the sport. After the injury, Smith spent a lot of time on his own. He didn’t even go to his high school tournament games to cheer on his team.
“I just wanted to hide,” he said. Smith would try to push people away, but they were always there for him.
When it came time to think about colleges, Smith had a decision to make.
He chose Towson, not so much because his dad played there, but more because at the time his uncle, Reggie, was sick and lived in Baltimore.
“I’ve made it one of my things to make sure he is able to see me play because I didn’t play in high school and stuff,” Smith said. “He’s one of the guys that helped me through my injury.”
Smith felt that he had to go to a school close to his uncle, and with Towson being so close to Baltimore, he saw it as the perfect fit. His uncle died in the summer of 2016 and never got to see him play for Towson.
Smith went to Towson without an athletic scholarship. He knew he’d have to work extra hard to walk onto the football team because he didn’t play varsity in high school due to his injury.
Before beginning his first semester at Towson, Smith would train three times a day. It was more than just physical training; it was mental as well. Over the course of his training, Smith felt like he got the blueprint of what he would need to do in order to make it.
The summer before entering his freshman year at Towson, Smith spoke with coach Rob Ambrose and Towson’s director of football operations. Smith learned that in order to be part of the team practices, he would need to be help out with operations.
“I’m thinking I could still run some routes with the guys you know, stuff like that. But it turns out, no I’m literally being put to work, picking up stuff and setting up drills and holding the chains at practice and spotting the ball and stuff like that,” Smith said.
This role got Smith close to the games, and he thinks it was a way to show his dedication and earn trust. He credits it to getting a shot at a tryout in 2017.
Ambrose was impressed with Smith’s work ethic, calling it “unparalleled.”
“He had been around us and knew what to expect,” Ambrose said. “That coupled with his athleticism…we knew we had to give him a shot.”
The tryout was short, only around 30 minutes, and consisted of stretching, a 40-meter dash, cone drills and one-on-ones. Smith thinks he stood out over the rest because of how much the coaches were able to see him during one-on-ones.
“I kept getting reps. I kept going to the front of the line, but it was probably 20 receivers,” Smith said. “They probably only went once, maybe twice, but I probably went five, six times. I would run a route, come right back to the quarterback, tell him the route, and go again.”
Smith saw limited action in 2017, played more in 2018 and last season became a big contributor. Against the Delaware Blue Hens, Smith had 200 yards receiving on nine catches.
Smith said his breakout game was against Villanova. The game didn’t start well, and he got frustrated. After a pep talk from wide receivers coach Justin Harper, Smith began dominating and would finish the game with five receptions for 54 yards.
Smith is hoping to play professionally after college, but he realizes that football doesn’t last forever. After football, Smith plans on settling down and having a family of his own, and even sees himself potentially coaching youth football. He also plans to make up for lost time with his family, especially his nieces and nephews. He thinks that the sacrifices he is making now will pay off in due time.
For now, Smith is waiting for one last chance to play college football.
“I’m not saying I don’t miss football, I definitely miss it,” Smith said. “But I know that trying to rush things back isn’t good, and I learned that from my injury.”
By Elise Devlin
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Caleb Smith knows the feeling of doubt and uncertainty all too well. The Towson redshirt senior wasn’t even sure if he’d play football again after suffering a major injury during his sophomore year of high school in 2013.
During a game early in the season, he tore his ACL and meniscus. The next few years were spent battling through physical therapy and the recovery process while trying to stay positive, despite what doctors told him about the likelihood that his career might be over.
The recovery was grueling: multiple surgeries to repair his meniscus, waiting for it to heal and eventually trying to find a transplant. It finally came, and Smith drove to Boston to finally get the transplant. At this point, Smith was eager for this surgery to work.
“I felt like I lost my identity being a sports guy,” Smith said. “Everybody in the city [Albany, New York.] knows that. My brother and I, everyone knows my family, the Smith Boys. They’re going to make it. And now that I kind of lost that identity. I wanted to hide.”
Smith has been playing sports for as long as he can remember. He comes from a family of football players. His father, Rodney Smith, played football at Towson and was inducted into the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.
For awhile, it didn’t look like Caleb Smith would play college football. But he held out hope. And he learned something about himself: He was patient and could persevere.
“It taught me that there’s more to life than football, if I had it taken away from me,” Smith said. “That’s one thing that a lot of people don’t understand, that sometimes it’s out of your control and it can be taken just like that. Another thing is perseverance. I guess, right after that, I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do. I’m constantly reminded that any task I’m going to get done, no matter how long it takes.”
Playing football at Towson wasn’t an easy road, either. He came to Towson without a football scholarship, began as a team manager, and then earn his way onto the field with a tryout.
Before the 2017, he did enough to impress Towson football coach Rob Ambrose. After making the team, it was not an immediate success. Smith admitted that he thought about quitting after a game against Villanova during the 2019 regular season. Although most people would pinpoint Smith’s game against Delaware during that season as his breakthrough, considering he had 9 catches for 200 yards and his first touchdown, he looks at the Villanova game as his breakthrough. Smith believes he developed the confidence in his abilities during that game.
Ambrose said Smith’s work ethic is almost unparalleled.
“His drive and desire is something that I have rarely seen in someone if his age,” Ambrose said. “His successes on the field and in the classroom speak directly to that. It is rare to see such drive, consistency and passion to achieve in every aspect of life.”
Smith’s road to where he is at now was not easy, but he believes everything happens for a reason.
“I always thought things happen for a reason,” said Smith. “So, I’ve known just not to give up and I’ll make it through.”
And having to wait again to play football, as the fall 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, didn’t seem like a big deal given how long Smith had gone without football several years ago.
“Right now, this [the pandemic] is kind of easy,” said Smith. “I’m just being patient, because I already know things work out.”
By Jared Pinder
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Caleb Smith missed out on a lot of events that high-profile high school football players get to experience — most notably, national signing day.
Smith never had the experience of committing to a college and getting a full athletic scholarship. He was never even able to play varsity football at La Salle Institute in Albany, New York. That’s because Smith suffered a torn ACL and meniscus injury in 2013 that wiped out the next few years on the field.
“It’s defintely tough seeing everybody doing national signing day and getting letters from schools that you wanted to go to,” Smith said. “All I could do at that point was just sit there and look at my knee brace.”
It took several surgeres and years of recover for Smith to get to a point where he could again think about football.
“Stuff like that was hard for me,” Smith said. “I’m thinking that I am not going to make it.”
Smith seemed destined to become an athlete from a young age. He started to play sports at the age of 4, and his family is filled with athletes. His dad, Rodney Smith, played football at Towson and is in the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame.
Coming from a football family, Caleb Smith always felt that he was destined to play high-level footbal;.
“I always felt like a lot of people always counted on me, and if I ever stopped, I would let a lot of people down,” Smith said. “There are a lot of people that believe that I can make it, so it would be a disservice to them and disrespectful just to quit and give up.”
Doctors questioned whether he would ever be the same after the injuries and even asked if he would ever get back on a football field again. Smith isolated himself and couldn’t get himself to attend high school football games.
But Smith persevered.
He couldn’t rely on his football skills to get him into college, so he focused on doing well in school and applying to college like a regular student.
“I credit that attitude to my mom,” Smith said. “She was always the one that pushed me to find a school that would focus on sports and education.”
It was also during this time that another voice would continue to push Caleb — his father.
“He was hurt a lot when he played too, so it took a big toll on him seeing me hurt,” Smith said. “He let me know that, even if I never played again, I would still be his son, and he would support me no matter what.”
Smith decided to attend Towson. And he knew he’d have to work hard to get onto the team. He first had to help out as an equipment manager before getting a tryout for the team. In 2017, he made the team. And Smith has become a productive wide receiver.
Smith’s story has inspired teammate Jabari Allen, also a wide receiver.
“It lets me know that some obstacles are going to happen in life, and what you do with them will affect your life,” Allen said. “They told him that he couldn’t play football, and he said ‘I’m going to.’ Now look at him, this dude is for real; I look up to him.'”
By Colin Schraudner
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
In 2013, Caleb Smith suffered a major injury: a torn ACL and meniscus. He had just caught a pass and was hit by two defenders. After the play, he couldn’t get up.
After numerous surgeries and rehab stints, Smith struggled physically and mentally. His identity as a football player, as a man, was less clear than ever before.
“I just wanted to hide,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t even go to my games. I didn’t go to my team games. I didn’t go to any big high school tournament games to watch. I didn’t want to be seen again or be around anybody.”
But the recovery process taught Smith that he could persevere. He’s now a redshirt senior on the Towson University football team — and a major contributor.
Last season, he was second on the team in receptions (35) and receiving yards (570) in 11 games and was named the STATS FCS Honorable Mention National Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against Delaware.
Smith sees his skillset as unique, but he emulates some of the best wide receivers.
“I’ve looked at all the [former players like] Terrell Owens, Ochocinco, but people I grew up on watching, I still go back and watch them,” Smith said. “And then I also watch the new guys, because if you think about it, the new guys grew up watching them… But I wouldn’t say that there’s somebody I strive to be like the most. I just want to be me.”
Smith’s recovery has inspired his teammates.
“His injury has inspired me because it lets me know that some obstacles are going to happen in life, and what you do with them will have an effect in your life,” said Jabari Allen, a Towson wide receiver. “They told him that he couldn’t play football, and he said ‘I’m going to.’ Now look at him, this dude is for real; I look up to him and we are the same age.’”
Smith said his faith kept him going. Whenever he would get overwhelmed or discouraged, he often felt alone. And during those rough periods Smith would look to God and pray to keep himself going. Even before games, Smith would always pray to slow his thought process down and keep himself humble.
Smith is well known for being optimistic and finding the positives in any situation. Allen commented on Smith’s mindset, remarking how Smith always manages to stay positive during any situation the team faces and is always working to better himself.
Smith focuses the most on having fun while on the field and has started to think about life after football.
“I honestly don’t think I want to be like a head coach but I can see myself coaching the youth just also like my experience and stuff like that but I don’t really have the inspiration to be a head coach,” he said.