‘Wow, I’m a Dallas Cowboy.’ Fort Worth’s own Tyler Smith’s NFL Draft dream is reality
Tyler Smith has a long way to go live up to being the 24th pick in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys.
The former Tulsa offensive lineman has even further to go fill the shoes of Hall of Famer Larry Allen and the No. 73 jersey he was given by the Cowboys to wear.
But if you want to know why the Cowboys fell in love with him and made him their pick, just listen to him for a few minutes.
Smith, a Fort Worth native who played in high school at North Crowley, simply knocked it out of the park at his introductory press conference at The Star in Frisco on Friday afternoon, despite minimal sleep and his phone blowing up all night after having his dream come true when he was picked by his hometown team.
“It was definitely the best day of my life, pound for pound,” Smith said. “I woke up in the middle of the night, my phone still going off. I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m a Dallas Cowboy.’”
But his mindset quickly transitioned to the future.
“I truly want to be the greatest at what I do,” he said. “I will put everything I have into what I do. This is a blessing beyond my imagination, and I know there’s more to do, I know there’s more in me. We’re just scratching the surface.”
No Cowboys first-round pick in recent years has shown to be more humble, intelligent, humorous, determined and engaging as Smith displayed in a 20-minute session that had coach Mike McCarthy laughing and owner Jerry Jones cracking jokes while smiling with nodding approval.
Most impressive was his degree of comfort, confidence and maturity in a situation he has never been in before and never dreamed of experiencing as a kid who was a two-star prospect out of high school who signed with Abilene Christian before deciding to play in college Tulsa.
But the personable Smith, who credits his mom Patricia, a former teacher who now creates curriculum for the Fort Worth Independent School District for his passion for learning, was ready for his moment.
Smith said he hasn’t had a chance to talk with any of his new teammates yet, but added: “I recently learned that Dak Prescott followed me [on Instagram]. That was surreal. I was like, what? I was like, that’s really Dak right there showing love.”
Regarding his nasty on-field play style, Smith said, “I play with the mindset that [opponents are] trying to take food out of my mouth.”
And earlier in the day Smith jokingly called out a local radio host for saying he was going to retire if the Cowboys took him with the 24th pick: “I didn’t think you were going to be on today.”
The show stopper came when he was asked what some media who have criticized his selection had gotten wrong about him leading up to this draft.
“I mean, well, I try to stay away from the media,” Smith said. “I feel like everybody has an opinion. They’re like buttholes.”
McCarthy then leaned into the mic. “That was awesome,” he said.
Growing serious, Smith said of his critics, “You never want someone’s opinion of you to become reality, and I simply won’t let it.”
Smith talked more Friday than Allen and current Pro Bowl tackle Tyron Smith have combined during their entire careers with the Cowboys.
But he wasn’t putting on a show. He is truly intelligent and engaging.
Smith scored a 30 on the Wonderlic test. His first conversation with agent Joby Branion last two hours on FaceTime.
And Branion remembers talking to him in the fall when said he was studying for a class, not a test, but so he could be prepared in class.
Those are traits he got from his mom.
“Researching, chasing down the facts ... if he is not sure he will go find it out,” Patricia Smith said. “He is always the quest to want to know more and the quest to want to learn. He definitely got that from me. I see myself as continuous learner.”
Mom believes in her son’s drive to be the best and prove critics wrong because she has seen him overcome adversity before.
He grew up with severely bowed legs and was forced to have corrective surgery between his junior and senior years in high school.
“It was very bowed,” Patricia Smith said. “He was experiencing pains. He had a slight limp. It was necessary for him to get treatment if he wanted to rise to the next level. It was a trying time for us as a family. But he has bounced back. He set high expectations for himself. He has risen to the occasion.”
No one who listened to him on Friday has any doubt he’ll be able to do the same with the Cowboys.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 5:29 PM.
