Watch: Smiths Went From Longtime Friends to ‘Brothers’
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Before they were the quarterback-sacking Smith Brothers who have helped power the Green Bay Packers to Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, Za’Darius Smith was learning how to play football at East Mississippi Community College while Preston Smith was honing his craft at Mississippi State.
The schools, worlds apart on the football spectrum, were separated by about 60 miles.
“Me not having nothing to do in school in Mississippi, to go to Starkville was the one thing we did,” Za’Darius Smith said, flanked by his unofficial brother.
Za’Darius Smith played at East Mississippi in 2011 and 2012. Those commutes from Scooba, Miss., to Starkville is how he initially formed a bond with Preston Smith. Za’Darius Smith considered joining Preston Smith at Mississippi State but instead wound up at Kentucky.
“We beat them every year,” Preston Smith said.
Their bond grew closer at the 2015 Scouting Combine. As defensive ends with the same last name, they always were in line together for drills.
Preston Smith was a second-round pick by Washington and Za’Darius Smith was a fourth-round pick by Baltimore. After four solid seasons with the Redskins and with an ascending final season for the Ravens, they were deemed two of the top edge-rushing prospects in free agency.
“I was telling him, ‘Man it would be crazy if we would end up on the same team,” Za’Darius Smith said. “This was three days before signing.”
General manager Brian Gutekunst wanted one to provide a badly needed upgrade to his outside linebacker group. He got both. They rewarded the Packers with a combined 25.5 sacks in the regular season and four more in last week's playoff win against Seattle.
“I get the phone call and my agent is saying you’re going to be playing with Preston Smith,” Za’Darius Smith said. “I said, ‘What? I said I just talked to him two days ago.’ To have this opportunity is big, man, and we’re enjoying every moment of it.”
For more from this conversation, check out the video associated with this story.
