Background and career
Harrison Smith (born February 2, 1989), nicknamed "the Hitman", is an American professional football safety for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft with the 29th overall pick. In 2017, Smith was graded the third-best player in the NFL by Pro Football Focus (PFF). His season grade of 98.8 was also the highest among safeties in PFF history. He was named to his third straight Pro Bowl on January 22, 2018, and was named first-team All-Pro. He followed with a 4th consecutive Pro Bowl in 2019 and second-team All-Pro.
Smith attended Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. In his senior season, he gained 1,340 yards rushing to go with 19 touchdowns, caught 23 passes for 453 yards and six touchdowns, and also made 61 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, and caused two fumbles on defense. He was named Gatorade Football Player of the Year in Tennessee in 2006. In addition to football, Smith also played basketball and ran track. In track, he competed primarily as a jumper. In 2007, he won the state meet in the high jump with a height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and the decathlon, scoring 6,230 points; he also won a silver medal in the triple jump (46 ft 1 in (14.05 m)) and a bronze in the long jump (21 ft 8.5 in (6.62 m)). He had a career-best leap of 2.03 meters (6.8 ft) in the high jump. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was listed as the No. 25 athlete in the nation. Many scouts believed he could play offense or defense in college. He chose Notre Dame over numerous Power 5 offers.
After red-shirting as a freshman in 2007, he emerged as a star in 2008. He began his career at linebacker. In his first year, he started 9 games and recorded 57 tackles, which included 8.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. As a junior in 2009, he started six games at strong safety, then strongside linebacker for the final six games. He recorded 69 tackles including 6.5 tackles for loss. In 2010, as a senior, he played strong safety where he recorded 93 tackles including a team-high seven interceptions. In 2011, he was accepted to a graduate program at Notre Dame allowing him to play another season. In his final year in 2011, serving as team captain, he played in and started in all 13 games. He recorded 90 tackles including three tackles for loss.
Coming out of Notre Dame, Smith was projected by the majority of analysts to be a first round draft selection. He was ranked the second best strong safety, behind Alabama's Mark Barron, and the 46th best prospect by NFLDraftScout.com. He was invited to attend the 2012 NFL Combine as a free safety and completed the entire workout and every positional drill. Smith was satisfied enough with his combine performance that he chose to only partake in positional drills at Notre Dame's Pro Day. He received positive reviews from analysts and scouts for his size, athletic ability, play recognition, intelligence, tackling ability, reaction time, consistency, and production. He mainly received negative reviews on his man to man coverage ability.
On April 26, 2012, the Minnesota Vikings selected Smith in the first round (29th overall) of the 2012 NFL draft after trading up with the Baltimore Ravens. On May 31, 2012, the Vikings signed Smith to a four-year, $7.13 million contract with $5.78 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.63 million. Entering training camp, Smith competed against Jamarca Sanford and Andrew Sendejo for the starting free safety spot. Smith was named the starting free safety to begin the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Vikings' season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He finished the 26–23 victory with seven combined tackles. During the Week 5 matchup against the Tennessee Titans, Smith was ejected for moving an official out of the way, but the Vikings still got the 30–7 win. In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, Smith recorded six combined tackles, a pass deflection, and his first career interception off a pass thrown by John Skelton, which he returned for a 31-yard touchdown to seal the Vikings' 21–14 victory. In Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he made a season-high 13 combined tackles as the Vikings lost 36–17. In Week 13 against the Green Bay Packers, Smith recorded 11 combined tackles and intercepted a pass thrown by Aaron Rodgers as the Vikings lost 23–14. In Week 14 against the Chicago Bears, he recorded seven total tackles and intercepted a pass thrown by Jay Cutler that he returned for a 52-yard touchdown in a 21–14 victory, marking his second touchdown of the season. In Week 15 against the St. Louis Rams, Smith had a season-high nine solo tackles and an assisted tackle during a 36–22 win. In a Week 16 matchup against the Houston Texans, he decided seven solo tackles and made his first career sack on Matt Schaub, as the Vikings won 23–6. He finished his rookie season with 104 combined tackles, one sack, three interceptions, and two touchdowns. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
He returned as the starting free safety the following season. In the season-opener against the Detroit Lions, Smith made a season-high ten combined tackles and deflected a pass as the Vikings lost 34–24. The following week, he recorded eight solo tackles and intercepted Jay Cutler for his first of the season. The Vikings went on to lose to the Bears 31–30. In a Week 3 contest against the Cleveland Browns, Smith racked up five solo tackles and intercepted Brian Hoyer in a 31–27 loss to the Browns. On October 18, 2013, Smith was placed on injured-reserve after suffering an injury to his left foot during a Week 6 loss to the Carolina Panthers. On December 14, 2013, after missing 8 games, Smith was activated to the 53-man roster. The next day, he played in his first game since returning and made eight combined tackles in a 48–30 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith started only seven games in the 2013 season due to his foot injury and made 58 combined tackles and two interceptions.
