Young players announcing impossible goals are as much a part of preseason as two-a-days, roster cuts and injuries. Eleven years ago, then-second-year running back Corey Dillon announced that he would rush for 2,500 yards during the 1998 season. He came up 1,370 yards short. In 2007, Frank Gore set his sights on Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards. He ended up with 1,102 yards, barely halfway there.
And yesterday, Lions running back Kevin Smith threw down the gauntlet. The former Central Florida star and '08 third-round pick has some implausibly absurd, um, plans for the upcoming season (because they're not necessarily "goals.") Via the Detroit Free Press' Nicholas Cotsonika:
"In my head, I'm probably like, 'I want to run for 5,000 yards,' but I don't tell nobody that," Smith said Thursday, cracking up fellow Lions running back Aveion Cason, seated nearby. "In my head, I tell myself I want to run for 5,000 yards and 100 touchdowns. That's my drive, but that's not necessarily my goal."Given that Cason was laughing, I take that to mean that Smith was joking. Pretty sure that wasn't the case when former Lions' quarterback Jon Kitna started tossing around lofty predictions. Whatever, I know what Smith means. Even if he doesn't get 5,000 yards or 100 touchdowns this season, he wants to perform at a high level on a consistent basis. More than that, he wants to win.
"Every running back wants to run for a lot of yards, but my focus is winning," Smith said. "I'm in a position where I want to win games. ... I'd take a playoff run without a Pro Bowl. I'd take a playoff run without great numbers."
Seems reasonable enough, even for an outfit that last won a game in 2007. Maybe victory feels more attainable when Smith isn't in competition for playing time with a kleptomaniac.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-14-2009 @ 8:00PM
plaudenbach said...
Yeah, and people in hell want ice water, too... (I think they're more likely to get it, too, than Smith getting 5,000 yards.)
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