'My career was completely over in my mind' – Trey Smith goes in depth on his scary experience with blood clots at Tennessee
Former Tennessee Vols offensive lineman Trey Smith was franchised tagged by the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this offseason. Smith is expected to receive a lucrative contract extension at some point this offseason that could make him the highest paid guard in NFL history. Suffice it to say, the former Vol has an incredible first four […]
Former Tennessee Vols offensive lineman Trey Smith was franchised tagged by the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this offseason.
Smith is expected to receive a lucrative contract extension at some point this offseason that could make him the highest paid guard in NFL history.
Suffice it to say, the former Vol has an incredible first four seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs (including two Super Bowl wins).
It's a pro career, however, that almost didn't happen.
Smith dealt with blood clots during his sophomore season at Tennessee. At one point, the former five-star recruit thought his football career was completely over.
This week, Smith appeared on the New Heights podcast and he detailed his scary experience with blood clots.
"Right after my freshman year, entering my sophomore season, in that off season, we had a coaching change," explained Smith. "The entire coaching staff was fired. In walks Jeremy Pruitt from the University of Alabama. And that whole offseason, they're just trying to break us. As you guys know, you get a new coaching staff, they try to weed out the bad guys and figure out what that team's going to be built around. We were gonna set the culture up.
"They looked at me, I had success in my first year as a freshman, they're like, 'Alright, we can build around this young player'. So they just started pushing us every single day during mat drills. And I was eating it. It was nothing to me. I'm laughing at them. One week in conditioning, we were doing half-gassers, and I passed out. I had never passed out. I couldn't breathe well. I lost 13 pounds in a day. I remember talking to our team doctor like, 'Hey, you guys gotta run more tests on me, I feel terrible'. And he's like, 'We're gonna do a blood draw, just go ahead and go to class'. I remember leaving my dorm room, having to walk like 400 yards to the library to write a paper, and I have to stop, like, seven times just to catch my breath. And as soon as I got out, the doctor's calling me frantic, like, 'Hey, Trey, where are you at?' I'm like, 'I just got finished with my paper is everything ok?' He's like, 'Don't worry about it, we're sending someone over with a car to come scoop you up'.
"They rush me to the hospital and figure out that I have blood clots in both sides of my lungs. So that was sort of one of those moments where it's like, man, can I still play football? Like, what does this mean? And pretty much, I was working with the doctors for five months. [I had to go on] blood thinners. The thing with blood thinners is if you take a shot to the head, or if you get cut, you run the risk of internal bleeding, or just bleeding out in general. So it's very dangerous for a contact sport, which was tough. They ended up doing blood thinners for about five to six months. I was able to play in my sophomore year, got to about the halfway point of the season, had the same sort of things going on, couldn't breathe well, coughing, mucus, etc. And they rushed me to the hospital again — just to be safe. They're like, 'Hey, you have blood clots again'. And at that point, my career was completely over in my mind. Like, the doctors have told me, 'If you have blood clots two times, you'll never play football again. It's not safe — we won't allow it'. And you know, through the grace of God, I had some people in my corner. The University of Tennessee flew me across the country. And we went to the Cleveland Clinic, where we met with some doctors. We looked at my scans with all of my tests and they're like, 'You don't have blood clots again. It looks like you have residual scar tissue in your lungs from the first case'. So that was like, oh, wow, That's how close it was. I almost didn't take that trip. I was pretty much done. I was like, I'll get into coaching or player engagement."
"But when I got that news, it sort of opened everything up to where I ended up going to a blood clotting specialist in North Carolina, where he created a health plan that had never done in the sport of football before," continued Smith. "I took blood thinner every single day of the week, except for Friday morning, and I would just wake up and play on Saturdays. So that meant no practice, no contact, no training camp. I would literally just be vibing out, doing cardio, watching film as much as I can. We would just go play on Saturdays. So it was a crazy experience. But my junior year, I was able to play the entire season. Decided to stay at Tennessee (for his senior season). I made a promise to my deceased mom, Dorsetta Smith, that I would get my degree and play in the NFL one day. So I kept my promise."
Smith ended up being selected by the Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He was a first-round talent (as evidenced by the success he's had in the NFL), but the concerns over blood clots caused numerous teams to pass on the former Vol.
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One of the best to ever play at Tennessee
