Tampa trip is bittersweet for Steve Smith
January 30
Charlotte Observer
"As much as Carolina receiver Steve Smith welcomed the opportunity to join six other NFL players at a project to help build a new playground in East Tampa on Wednesday, it wasn't his first choice for how to spend the day.
"I wanted to be involved, but I wanted to have my job kind of occupy (the time) and hopefully hear about it afterward," said Smith, thinking back to October when he was invited to the event.
Instead, the player whose job prevented him from attending the function sponsored by Home Depot was Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner, who was across town with the Cardinals preparing to play in the Super Bowl on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"I was kind of hoping it would be like Kurt," Smith said, smiling. "But it's one of those things that it's the circumstances, and you deal with it and enjoy your time here."
The Panthers' Super Bowl chances were dashed by Warner and the Cardinals in a 33-13 playoff loss on Jan.10 in Charlotte.
Smith said he's gotten over the deep disappointment that initially followed the defeat.
"We don't have a choice," he said. "It's done and over with, so I'm just moving on."
Smith said he has used the first two weeks of the offseason to help his son Peyton get ready to play junior high football next year.
"That's been very fun," he said.
Smith didn't plan to stay in Tampa long.
He said he'd soon fly to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, where he'll practice and play with the NFC team next week, but first is scheduled to watch the Super Bowl on television at Pearl Harbor with members of the military.
"Some of those guys have just come back (from deployment overseas), so it will be exciting to see them," he said.
Smith wouldn't pick a Super Bowl winner and said he wasn't rooting for either team, partly because he's friends with star receivers Larry Fitzgerald of Arizona and Hines Ward of Pittsburgh.
"I don't want to say I want Fitz to win because they beat us or I want Hines to lose because he already won one (Super Bowl three years ago)," said Smith.
"Those guys have worked so hard, and I think it's unfair for a guy who has not earned the right to play in that game to say, 'I think this guy should win.'"
Smith also took issue with a letter-to-the-editor published in the Observer this week disagreeing with his position that the Cardinals' loss didn't make the Panthers' entire season a failure. The Panthers had a 12-4 regular season and won the NFC South title.
"If you're going to tell me an outsider of the Panthers organization is going to be able to summarize our season and say it was a waste of time … that's why everybody's entitled to their opinion," said Smith. "They can write a letter, they can even (place) an ad, but it doesn't change the failure or the success we had this year.
"Those people, I can say I'm saddened they feel that. I'm also happy there are die-hard Panther fans like that. But I'm not go"
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