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Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith Campaigned For the Pro Bowl and Made It: 'It's A Blessing'

Dallas Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith Campaigned For the Pro Bowl, Much to the Chagrin of Some. But He Made It and Plays Tonight. 'It's A Blessing,' He Says
Mike Fisher|
Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith Campaigned For the Pro Bowl and Made It: 'It's A Blessing'
Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith Campaigned For the Pro Bowl and Made It: 'It's A Blessing'

The Dallas Cowboys will have better years and Jaylon Smith will, too. But circumstances allowed the linebacker from the 8-8 Cowboys into today's NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando, and he's thankful for those circumstances.

“It’s a blessing anytime,” said Smith, according to Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News. “Just growing up as a child, you always watched these games and they used to be in Hawaii. I cannot wait until I get an opportunity to play in the Pro Bowl.''

The opportunity comes tonight for Smith, the 24-year-old superstar at Notre Dame who underwent knee reconstruction following an injury in his final game - a situation that caused some NFL teams to remove the top-five prospect from their boards.

Smith slipped to the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, when the Cowboys - believing they had superior information on his possible recovery, but also knowing it might take time for that to happen - took him with the 34th overall pick.

Jaylon debuted in 2017, playing in every game and registering 81 tackles, a sack and a pair of forced fumbles. He emerged as a star-caliber player in 2018 with 121 tackles, four sacks, a pair of forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, four passes defended and a defensive touchdown. In 2019, h began the season by signing a long-term contract with Dallas and then  came up with 142 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and nine passes defended in a year that he would concede was an overall disappointment.

He nevertheless was active on social media campaigning for Pro Bowl votes. He was a late add, but he's having fun in Orlando, including taking it to the wire in the "DodgeBall'' competition.

"For this to happen, it’s a blessing, man,'' Jaylon said, speaking specifically about the Pro Bowl but surely about his entire path.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.

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