Chris Smith (safety)


Chris Smith is a former professional gridiron football safety.

Early years

Smith attended Gainesville High School, where he earned all-state honors as a senior in football and also lettered in baseball and basketball. Smith played college football for Florida International University from 2003 to 2006, where he studied criminal justice. He finished college with 178 tackles and 12 tackles for a loss, a sack and one interception. Smith was one of two players who were dismissed from the Golden Panthers for their involvement in the Miami-FIU brawl that occurred on October 14, 2006 in a game against Miami Hurricanes football in what had been intended as the first of annual cross-town series between the Miami teams.

Professional career

Smith went undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft but was signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles on April 30, 2007, and played in the pre-season but was ultimately released on August 27.
In June 2008, the Montreal Alouettes signed Smith to the practice roster. On July 31, 2008, he played in his first regular season game and started at safety the following week. He ultimately played in nine games of the 2008 CFL season before returning to the practice roster at the end of the year.