Friday, Oct. 10, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.
Sal DeFilippo's pro football picks column appears Friday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4076.
Two guys walk into a shoestore at a mall in Lakeland, on Florida's west coast, in February. The store attendant asks one of them, "are you a ballplayer? You're built like a ballplayer."
"Yeah, I play for the Bucs," he says. "I'm Shaun King."
The shoestore worker looks again at the 5-foot-9 man sporting the huge afro.
"You're not Shaun King, man. I know what he looks like," the attendant says.
The player's friend chimes in. "Man, he plays for the Carolina Panthers. This is Rod Smart."
Complete silence. The kind of silence you could have heard late Monday night at any Buccaneers' bar after that insane loss to the Colts.
"Wait, wait," the friend continues. "Here's how you'll know him. Do you remember the XFL? This is 'He Hate Me.' "
Within seconds, Smart is signing autographs and taking pictures.
"The guy looked like he had a question mark over his head, but once he heard 'He Hate Me' the light bulb went off and he got all excited," Smart said Thursday from the Carolina practice facility.
Such is life when you are best known by a nickname. On Sunday, however, Smart took a big step toward becoming known for what he's doing on the field. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for his first NFL touchdown.
I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes when he returned the kick. Sure, I was crying only because I had New Orleans plus the points. But it still rekindled memories of Smart's 2001 season with the Las Vegas Outlaws.
In the short span before the XFL became an ex-FL, Smart became a sort of cult hero for his moniker, which (bad grammar aside) is meant to describe how opponents feel when Smart made plays against them.
He Hate Me, and the resuscitation of Tommy Maddox's career, are the only remnants of the short-lived Vince McMahon-NBC football venture. After the league folded, Maddox joined the Pittsburgh Steelers and eventually became their starting quarterback.
Smart spent the last half of 2002 with the Philadelphia Eagles before landing with the Panthers this year as a kickoff returner and backup running back.
So now that Smart is enjoying success in the NFL, does this mean the end of the nickname? Does he hate He Hate Me?
"I'll be He Hate Me forever -- it's a part of me," Smart said. "A lot of fans still love it. When I sign autographs, people ask me to write 'He Hate Me.' It's a way I was able to market myself. If they'd let me do it, I'd wear it on my jersey now. I wouldn't think twice about it."
Smart said the publicity also may have aided his path to the NFL.
"When I came out of college I signed with San Diego as a free agent, but I was cut. The XFL was a steppingstone for me," he said. "Once I had that taste in San Diego, though, I knew I was going to play in this league sooner or later. The nickname helped me get noticed. That, plus me playing hard, helped get me here."
Smart said the transition from college to XFL to NFL was all about slowing things down as they speed up around him.
"You look at the speed and size first, but once you get comfortable with that, the game is all mental," Smart said. "Once you can slow the game down mentally, the rest is second nature, and you adapt to it."
Smart appeared anything but slow on his key return last week, which helped Carolina remain unbeaten. With Stephen Davis carrying the load at running back, Smart is content to play on special teams -- for now.
"The reason they put you on the return team is to make big plays like that, so that's what I expect to do. One day I will definitely be a starting running back, but right now, my main focus is on special teams and helping the team win. I look at special teams as just another way to get to Hawaii. Those are my goals -- make the Pro Bowl and win games. As long as this team stays healthy, we can go far," Smart said.
He Hate Me's outlook proves one thing: You may not have to conjugate verbs well to succeed in pro football, but it helps if you are smart.
And that he is. Just like his new jersey says.
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