The football career of running back Rodney Smith has been a long winding path with his latest stop in Saskatchewan, with the Roughriders.

Smith is currently involved in a training camp battle to earn a position on the team’s roster with Javian Hawkins and B.J. Emmons for a spot behind incumbents Jamal Morrow and Frankie Hickson.

A battle for a spot is nothing new for the 27-year-old running back.

“That’s how you get your diamonds, you know, pressure creates diamonds.”

Smith pointed out that despite the competition, all the players are still teammates, and when they are competing together instead against each other, the individual and the team receive dividends in the long run.

When the Roughriders open the preseason on Saturday against the BC Lions, Smith, Hawkins, and Emmons will likely get the bulk of the work at running back as Morrow and Hickson will probably sit out the majority of Saturday’s game, if not all of it.

Head Coach Craig Dickenson says there is a possibility the green and white will keep one or two of the running backs when the team returns to Regina for the regular season.

“They’ve all done a good job, you hate to lose one of them.”

During his final season at Mundy’s Mills High School in Jonesboro, Georgia, Smith helped the Tigers to their best record at the time as he racked 2,201 yards on the ground and earned first-team all-state honours.

Along with his achievements on the gridiron, the native of Atlanta, Georgia, played baseball. He said that baseball was his first love, and if he didn’t suffer a torn ACL he suffered during his junior year, he probably would’ve pursued baseball.

One of the reasons baseball was a favourite for Smith was that his father, Patrick, was a baseball coach and was his coach when he played in high school.

Following high school, despite offers from schools closer to his home, the running back elected to attend the University of Minnesota. Smith said the Golden Gophers presented him with the best offer.

“The Big Ten is a prestigious conference so I couldn’t pass that up.”

He added the long distance was not a deterrent for him.

“I saw it as an opportunity for me to grow as a person, it’s not as close to home so I can’t call mom and dad when I’m feeling down or sad, got to figure it out on my own. I took it upon myself to go out to Minnesota and create a lot on my own in a sense.”

By the time Smith finished his time in Minnesota, he ended up finishing second in the program’s history in all-time rushing yards (4,125), second in all-time yards from scrimmage (4,646) and became the Golden Gophers all-time leader in all-purpose yards (5,444).

Despite his success in Minnesota, Smith went undrafted and signed with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 as an undrafted free agent. After he spent some time on the practice squad, he was promoted to the active roster in Week 10. In the final game of the season, the running back scored his first career NFL touchdown against the New Orleans Saints.

As a Panther, Smith got to spend time working with Christian McCaffery. The Roughrider says the current San Francisco 49er was someone he paid attention to.

“I learned a lot from Christian, both on and off the field.”

During the 2021 season, the running back bounced around the Panthers, Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions practice squads before he was released in early 2022.

Smith says he was in contact with Roughriders General Manager and Vice-President of Football Operations Jeremy O’Day last season and had the offer to join the Saskatchewan practice roster but couldn’t attend because he didn’t have a passport at the time.

Now that he has arrived in Saskatchewan, the running back is excited for live-game action on Saturday when the Roughriders meet the Lions in the first preseason game for both teams.

“I haven’t played football since 2021, it will be fun to go out there and compete.”

Full coverage of Saturday’s matchup can be found on 620 CKRM. Pregame coverage begins at 2:00, and the opening kickoff at 5:00.