We get the feeling it’d be exceedingly difficult for undrafted Dallas Cowboys receiver Chris Brown, a teammate of second round pick Jaylon Smith at Notre Dame, to put into words just what Smith meant to his Fighting Irish teammates.
But Brown tried recently.
“You have a lot of great players that you just respect them because they’re great players, but you’re talking about a dude that never did anything wrong,” Brown said of Smith, per ESPN Dallas. “Never was late, did everything he needed to do, was vocal when he had to be vocal. He was a leader in his own right, and just to see something like that (one injury) was unfortunate, but we stayed with him throughout and we were supporting him. And we knew that whoever would give him a shot, they were going to get it done.”
Perhaps an encouraging sign for the Cowboys, who drafted Smith with the knowledge that he probably wouldn’t play until 2017 due to the devastating knee injury he suffered at last year’s Fiesta Bowl, is the fact that Brown says he hasn’t really seen any change in Smith’s approach to the game since the injury.
“Same dude. That’s the best thing about Jaylon. He’s the same dude through the in and outs," Brown said. "Real relaxed, but driven. I’m his roommate now, so he’s in the playbook as if he’s out there every single day taking every rep.”
