Jeff Smoker

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Jeff Smoker
No. 9, 12, 6
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1981-06-13) June 13, 1981 (age 42)
Manheim, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:224 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school:Manheim (PA) Central
College:Michigan State
NFL draft:2004 / Round: 6 / Pick: 201
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Career Arena statistics
TD-INT:89-28
Comp-Att:430-713
Passing yards:5,550
Passer rating:99.62
Player stats at NFL.com · ArenaFan.com

Jeff Smoker (born June 13, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played for, and drafted by, the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL) from 2004 to 2005. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans. He was also the starting quarterback for the Nashville Kats and Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League (AFL).

College career[edit]

Jeff Smoker attended Michigan State University. While at Michigan State, he set many of the Spartans' passing records and when he finished his collegiate career he was the fifth leading passer-by-yards in Big Ten history.[1]

Smoker appeared in two bowl games during his career, winning his first, and only, in the 2001 Silicon Valley Football Classic 44–35 against Fresno State as a sophomore in 2001.[2] He lost his last bowl game against Nebraska with a score of 17–3 as a senior in the 2003 Alamo Bowl.[3][4]

Smoker also played in the "Clockgate" game against the Michigan Wolverines on November 3, 2001. In the game Smoker threw the winning touchdown with one second remaining.[5]

Substance abuse[edit]

Smoker was suspended for the last five games of the 2002 season by coach Bobby Williams due to a violation of team rules.[6] It was later revealed that Smoker was dealing with substance abuse issues.[7] His story and comeback was profiled in a front-page story in Sports Illustrated. Williams was fired toward the end of the 2002 season. Incoming coach John Smith reinstated Smoker in August 2003.[8]

Michigan State passing records[edit]

Held the following Michigan State passing records:
Records that have been surpassed are marked with an *

Career records

  • Passing yards: 8,932*
  • Touchdown passes: 61*
  • Pass attempts: 1,150*
  • Pass completions: 685*
  • 200-yard passing games: 23
  • Interceptions: 39
  • Passing yards per game (min 20 games): 217.9

Season records

  • Passing yards: 3,395 (2003)
  • Pass attempts: 488 (2003)
  • Pass completions: 302 (2003)
  • Passing efficiency rating (min 75 attempts): 166.4 (2001)
  • Total offense yards per attempt (min 100 attempts): 7.35 (2001)
  • Passing yards per game (min 5 games): (2003)*
  • Passing touchdowns: 21 (2001, 2003)*

Single game records

  • Pass attempts: 55 vs Ohio State (2003)
  • Pass completions: 35 vs Ohio State (2003)

Professional career[edit]

Pre-draft[edit]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press Wonderlic
6 ft 3+1⁄8 in
(1.91 m) 		223 lb
(101 kg) 		9+7⁄8 in
(0.25 m) 		29+1⁄2 in
(0.75 m)		 x s x s x s 4.36 s 7.65 s 26+1⁄2 in
(0.67 m)		 8 ft 5 in
(2.57 m)		 x reps 23
Combine and pro day results[9]

St. Louis Rams[edit]

Smoker was drafted in the sixth round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams, he made the Rams' roster in his rookie year as the team's third-string quarterback.[10][11] In his second year he was beaten out of that position by 2005 7th round draft pick Ryan Fitzpatrick and was cut from the Rams at the end of training camp.[12]

Philadelphia Eagles[edit]

Smoker spent a brief time on the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad in 2005.[13]

St. Louis Rams (second stint)[edit]

He spent the 2005 season on the club's practice squad due to injuries to the Ram's starter Marc Bulger and his back-up, Jamie Martin.[14] Due to the Rams' signing of former Miami Dolphins quarterback Gus Frerotte in the 2006 offseason,[15] Smoker was cut from the Rams roster at the beginning of the 2006 training camp on July 26, 2006.[16]

Kansas City Chiefs[edit]

On August 9, 2006, he was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs. Smoker was released on August 28.[17]

Nashville Kats[edit]

Smoker was signed by the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League (AFL) on November 17, 2006. He got his first start with the Kats on March 18, 2007 versus the Utah Blaze in Nashville.[18] He replaced Clint Stoerner as the starting quarterback midway through the season and help lead the Kats to a 7-9 record, just barely missed the playoffs.[19] He was released from the team at the end of the 2007 season.[citation needed]

Arizona Rattlers[edit]

Smoker was signed by the Arizona Rattlers,[20] where he made his first starts after starter Lang Campbell went down with a sprained ankle.[21] He was their starting quarterback until the league folded in 2009.[22]

AFL Statistics[edit]

Season Passing Rushing
Att Comp Pct Yards Avg TD Int QBR Long Att Yards Avg TD
Nashville Kats
2007 419 253 60.40 3,447 8.20 57 17 103.78 49 13 8 0.6 3
Arizona Rattlers
2008 294 177 60.20 2,103 7.20 32 11 93.68 49 11 26 2.4 2
Career[23][24] 713 430 60.30 5,550 7.70 89 28 99.62 49 24 34 1.5 5

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Big Ten Conference Career Leaders and Records for Passing Yards". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  2. ^ "Spartans Outscore No. 20 Fresno State, 44-35". Michigan State University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  3. ^ "Lansing State Journal 30 Dec 2003, page Page 17". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  4. ^ "2003 Michigan State football". HuskerMax. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  5. ^ GOPAL, ARUN (2001-11-05). "Last-second heroics doom Wolverines". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  6. ^ gandaily (2002-10-24). "Spartans' Smoker suspended". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  7. ^ "ESPN.com: NCF - MSU quarterback Smoker has substance abuse problem". www.espn.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  8. ^ "Michigan State reinstates Smoker". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  9. ^ Jeff Smoker, Pro Scout Draft.com
  10. ^ "2004 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  11. ^ Reinhart, Jeffrey. "Smoker signs 3-year deal with the Rams". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  12. ^ "Harvard man leads Rams to unlikely comeback win". Deseret News. 2005-11-29. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  13. ^ Young, Jeff. "Eagles sign Smoker to practice squad". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  14. ^ "Volek gets start in place of McNair". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  15. ^ "Rams sign backup QB Frerotte". www.patriots.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  16. ^ "Bengals trade QB Ragone to Rams for draft pick". ESPN.com. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  17. ^ "Jeff Smoker - Kansas City Chiefs - news and analysis, statistics, game logs, depth charts, contracts, injuries". www.nbcsportsedge.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  18. ^ Weixlmann, Ben. "Where in the World Is...Jeff Smoker?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  19. ^ Murphy, David. "This is not the football they played growing up". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  20. ^ Slagter, Josh (2008-06-30). "Former MSU QB Smoker enjoying life in Phoenix". mlive. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  21. ^ "Rattlers sign QB Jones, OL Thomas". OurSports Central. 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  22. ^ "Arena Football League Folds • USIndoor Sports Association". USIndoor Sports Association. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  23. ^ "Jeff Smoker QB · 6-3/225 · Manheim, PA · Michigan St". deadfootball.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Jeff Smoker". arenafan.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.

External links[edit]

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