Packers’ Trey Smack Kicked in Tough College Stadiums (Including ‘Overrated’ One)

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When Green Bay Packers kicker Trey Smack jogs onto the field for the first kicks of his NFL career on Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings, about 67,000 screaming fans will be encouraging him to, well, choke.

How will he handle the moment? The deafening roar trying to get in his head? The sea of twirling white towels trying to distract him?

“You really don’t notice it because I’m not really worried about, like, ‘Oh, man, there’s a lot of fans screaming at me,’” Smack said after practice on Friday. “I got to worry about kicking a ball, so that’s what I’m kind of worried about.”

Smack, a sixth-round pick from Florida, is no stranger to pressure kicks in tough stadiums. He played in the SEC, the toughest conference in college football and with some of the most rabid fanbases.

Was LSU’s infamous Death Valley the toughest stadium?

“No, I think LSU’s overrated,” Smack said.

So, what were the most challenging environments?

“I would say Tennessee’s up there. Tennessee’s probably in my top,” he said. “I would say, Kyle Field [at Texas A&M] can get amped up when they want to. And the sleeper’s South Carolina. I think South Carolina is one of the better atmospheres in college football.”

Smack kicked for the Gators for three seasons. In road games, he made 12-of-15 field-goal attempts and all 36 extra points.

Trey Smack Stays Focused

That conversation was meant to set up this question: How does he handle tens of thousands of fans trying to get in his head? U.S. Bank Stadium is one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL, and the fans will be especially revved up for the first game of the season, a rivalry showdown and the first game of Smack’s career.

“White noise. You know, it’s just loud white noise,” Smack said.

So far, he has handled all the big tests along the way. While his missed kicks on the practice field might have caused some heartburn, he made all 16 kicks during a perfect preseason.

Green Bay Packers kicker Trey Smack lines up for a kickoff against the Cardinals in the preseason. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I don’t view it as I went perfect in preseason because some of my kickoffs and some of the field goals that I hit, I kind of missed the ball but it still managed to go through,” Smack said. “I don’t view it like, ‘OK, I’m complacent now.’ It’s just started.

“I viewed preseason as an opportunity; that was great. I also view kicking out at the Don Hutson Center and the two (practice) fields, that’s a great opportunity for me to see wind firsthand. That’s probably the hardest practice field – I’ve heard – in the NFL to kick. So, it’s helped me out mentally and I’m just going to build from there.”

While Smack downplayed it, special teams coordinator Cam Achord sees nothing but upside from the preseason.

“I think anytime you make all your kicks, you have a little bit more confidence, right? So, I think that’s a good thing,” he said. “I do think that at some point, whether it’s Week 1, Week 18, whatever it may be, he’s going to miss. And I think what was good about him is you saw on his college tapes, college film, is he didn’t let one miss lead into another and like spiral downhill.”

Well, that’s almost true. In the 2025 opener against Long Island, Smack made 2-of-5 field-goal attempts during a blowout victory, with the misses from 39, 40 and 57 yards. He bounced back from that and missed just one field goal the rest of the season.

Getting Jacked Up

Emotions will be running high on Sunday, though Smack has exuded an even-keeled approach throughout his time in Green Bay.

“I think I get jacked up if I do my job,” he said. “You know, after I make a kick, I get fired up. So, it’s good.”

The Packers need Smack to be good. They need him to be good on the first Sunday of the football season and they need him to be good in January.

When Smack was drafted, he was asked about the pressure of being drafted by a team with Super Bowl expectations. Big misses by Anders Carlson at San Francisco in 2023 and Brandon McManus at Chicago in 2025 played key roles in Green Bay’s playoff losses.

Though it never materialized, Smack at the time was set to face a kicking competition. That’s a lot of pressure – not unlike what awaits on against the Vikings.

“I feel like every kick is pressure,” he said at the time. “In college, I played in the SEC, so I played in the biggest stadiums in all of college football. There’s some pressure there. I get nervous for every kick and every opportunity I have to kick, even in practices. It’s just normal to me and that’s how I handle it. I like to have fun with it. Pressure is fun to me.”

Smack said he still gets nervous before every kick, whether it’s inside the Hutson Center or inside U.S. Bank Stadium for the official start of his professional career.

How does he manage the nerves and split the uprights?

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he said. “I just kind of let my body take over. I just get back in my steps and try to hit the best ball possible.”

NFL games aren't played on paper. They're not played on silicon, either.

For what it's worth, the @OptaSTATS loves the Packers ... and not one of their rivals. ⬇️https://t.co/Zon81u89XH
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 12, 2026

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