For a former Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith keeps a low profile. That is not to say Smith shies away from the spotlight – that's impossible when you're scheduled to take part in a quarterback skills competition in front of 99,000 fans – but he is nowhere as outspoken as someone like Cardale Jones.
The 2006 Heisman winner was a capable competitor, planting his feet and hurled a football 68 yards, good for second in the competition. His toss was six yards shorter than Jones', who said he would have thrown it 80 yards if his arm weren't tired. Smith didn't seem to mind the boast, though.
When asked about the competition, he seemed to recognize that the competition was a fait accompli to demonstrate Cardale's arm strength. "I had a lot of fun. Putting everything in perspective, I think the guy that was supposed to win it won it. Everybody wants to see the new and the young guy stand supreme, so I think the good guy won," Smith said.
Even so, it was a strong performance for Troy Smith, who threw the ball nine yards farther than the other young guy, J.T. Barrett. For reference,the longest pass I can remember him throwing came against Illinois in 2005, when he threw a 75-yard touchdown strike to Ted Ginn:
Based on where Smith released the ball and where Ginn caught it, Smith threw the ball somewhere between 58 and 60 yards on that throw. Ten years later, he threw the ball 8-10 yards farther. Granted, the 68-yard bomb didn't require the same touch, but it shows that Smith is still skilled.
It's not like Troy Smith was ever thought to have a bad arm, but throwing power was never his selling point. He was greatly respected for his abilities as a field general – a term usually used as a veiled insult of a quarterback's athleticism, but in this case a valid descriptor of his composure and accuracy. Smith did not have the running ability of Vince Young or the rocket arm of JaMarcus Russell, the top quarterbacks taken in the 2006 and 2007 NFL drafts (Smith was taken in the fifth round of the 2007 draft), but he had incredible field vision.
Smith hung on to professional football the longest of the three, bouncing from the NFL to the United Football League to the Canadian Football League, where he started at quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes in 2013 and 2014. The Alouettes released him in October, likely marking the end of the 30-year-old's professional football career.
After being cut, Smith returned to Columbus and became a graduate assistant in Ohio State's athletic department. His appearance at the spring game, along with his new job and the honoring of his jersey number last November, suggest he's shifting into an ambassadorial role similar to that of another Heisman winner, Archie Griffin.
As the veteran quarterback, naturally Smith was asked who Ohio State's starting quarterback would be. After clarifying the question, he chose the sensible response, Cardale Jones, with the reasoning that Jones would take the bulk of the snaps over the offseason and be in the best game shape.
Humility was one of Smith's key points in his 2006 Heisman acceptance speech, and it was on display again on Sunday. When BTN's Lisa Byington tried to coax him into bragging about his 68-yard throw, he declined.
"[It's] pretty cool for a guy who sits in his office from 9 to 5," Smith said. "Ohio State is a tremendous place to be, there's a lot of work you have to do off the field. Being able to be here today with a free spring game ticket, that's all I came for."
