Preston Smith Delivers Holiday Cheer

The player who leads the Green Bay Packers in sacks played the role of Santa to his teammates on defense

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Preston Smith has been delivering pain to opposing quarterbacks all season. On Saturday, he delivered joy to the locker room.

To thank his teammates for helping him collect a team-leading 11.5 sacks, Smith bought scooters for all of the players on defense. Even practice-squad player James Looney, who recently was moved to tight end, and rookie linebacker Greg Roberts, who has spent the entire season on the physically unable to perform list, were rolling through the locker room on Saturday.

“I feel like it was very suitable for the guys and I knew they would enjoy it,” Smith said. “Guys were having fun riding them around, acting like big kids. Even though we’re a lot of grown men, you saw the kids come out of guys today as they were enjoying riding the scooters around. I wanted to share a moment with them that I knew they’d enjoy.”

Smith got the Bird Scooters custom made with the players’ nicknames. Smith's, for instance, said, "P. Smitty." Most were white or black but a few were pink. Those were advertised as rose. “I don’t know if there was enough ink in the printer to help them see that it wasn’t the color they were expecting,” Smith said.

For reaching 10 sacks, Smith said he was going to buy every player on the defense a Rolex watch. Those gifts are “pending,” Smith said. Coaches will get a different gift. “It’s going to be a whole lot cheaper than a scooter,” Smith joked.

One teammate suggested defensive lineman Dean Lowry would be the player most likely to crash. Lowry would not argue with that assessment.

The players were full of smiles as they cruised through the locker room.

“He showed us love and showed appreciation for us as a team,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “It’s pretty cool.”