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New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith wants Super Bowl over Pro Bowl

Written by Brian Allee-Walsh, NewOrleans.Com's Saints Beat | Thursday, 24 December 2009 16:09 | Saints News

METAIRIE - It given a choice of playing in the 2010 Pro Bowl or Super Bowl XLIV, New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith made his first preference abundantly clear.

“Not to take the Pro Bowl lightly but you always have opportunities to make it to the Pro Bowl,’’ said Smith, a sixth-year veteran who played in the NFL’s annual all-star game following the 2006 season. “You don’t know when you have an opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl. You can go to a 1,000 Pro Bowls but never even come close to making it to the Super Bowl.’’

Based on what’s happening for Smith and the 13-1 Saints this season, he might get the opportunity to do both.

On Tuesday, the NFL will announce the NFC and AFC squads for the annual Pro Bowl to be played Jan. 31, 2010, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., one week before Super Bowl XLIV at the same venue.

Smith currently ranks third in the NFL in sacks with a career-high 12, trailing only Denver DE Elvis Dumervil (15) and Minnesota DE Jared Allen (13) with two games remaining in the regular season.

There is a catch, however. If Smith is voted to the NFC squad and the Saints should win the NFC championship and advance to Super Bowl XLIV, then, of course, he would not be able to play in the Pro Bowl.

Nor would a handful of other Saints who are expected to receive strong consideration for the Pro Bowl, such as, QB Drew Brees, RG Jahri Evans, LG Carl Nicks, MLB Jonathan Vilma and FS Darren Sharper, just to name a few.

Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams gave Smith a ringing endorsement Thursday.

“He’s a much better football player than I thought coming in here,’’ Williams said. “I liked him coming out but I didn’t know enough about him. I didn’t know all the personal makeup. I didn’t know the toughness. I didn’t know the leadership. I didn’t know the pride behind him. And I didn’t know the stubbornness behind him because he’s a stubborn football player, too, which makes him good.’’

During a conference call Wednesday with members of the New Orleans media, Tampa Bay center Jeff Faine revealed that his Pro Bowl ballot included Smith, Vilma and Sharper.

The format calls for offensive players to vote for defensive players and defensive players to vote for offensive players in their conference only.

The Buccaneers (2-12) face the Saints at noon Sunday at the Superdome.

“(Smith) is definitely a dominant player who can do it against the run and pass,’’ said Faine, who played for the Saints in 2006 and ’07 before signing a six-year, $37.5 million contract with the Buccaneers in March of ’08 that made him the game’s highest-paid center. “There’s not a lot of defensive ends out there who can do both. I think that’s the thing that makes him pretty special.’’

The start of Smith’s season nearly got derailed when he and teammate Charles Grant were scheduled to serve a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

But that suspension has been delayed until after the season when the STARCAPS case resumes in the Minneapolis court system.

Smith said he will deal with that issue at the appropriate time.

“It’s still sitting out there and will be fixed in the offseason,’’ Smith said. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

“I don’t let things like that get to me. A lot of the things that happened at the beginning of the season, a lot of that stuff you can’t control. It’s out of your control; it’s out of my hands. Me worrying about it, me losing sleep about it, isn’t going to change anything. So, I try to let things be and whatever happens, happens.’’

The Saints just happen to be coming off their first loss after 13 consecutive wins, a 24-17 defeat at the hands of Dallas Cowboys, who probably played their best game of the season.

Brees spoke openly how that loss might benefit the team in the long run as it prepares for the postseason.

“Winning seems to cover things up,’’ Brees said. “Not to say that we’re not paying attention to details when we’re winning, but when you lose, that’s when you realize, ‘Hey, this stuff will get you beat, unless you fix it.’

“It just seemed like in the (Dallas) game, all the things that could have went wrong, went wrong. All the mistakes just kind of added up, and nothing really went right. In the end, that’s what got us beat.’’

Smith shared Brees’ perspective, adding “you can learn a lot more stuff from a loss than you can from a victory.’’

“The fact that we lost last week and we didn’t get the perfect record, that wasn’t one of our goals when we started the season,’’ Smith said. “Yeah, it would have been great to have that on a resume so when you’re away from football 20 years from now you can say that was us.

“But, our ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl and we still have a chance to do that.’’

INJURY REPORT

Two minor changes on Thursday’s list of walking wounded.

S Usama Young, who underwent sports hernia surgery Tuesday in Philadelphia, has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. CB Randall Gay (concussion) practiced on a limited basis, suggesting he is further along in his recovery than LB Scott Shanle, who also suffered a concussion against the Dallas Cowboys.

Shanle did not practice for a second consecutive day Thursday. Neither did WR Lance Moore (right ankle) and FS Darren Sharper (left knee).

Young is the sixth Saint to undergo sports hernia surgery in the past 15 months, joining TE Jeremy Shockey, RDE Will Smith, MLB Jonathan Vilma, LT Jammal Brown and CB Jabari Greer.

“It’s a unique number,’’ Payton said. “We constantly pay attention to the experts in that field and try to continue to look at the different ways that we’re practicing.’’

Payton provided no timetable on Young’s possible return. Typically, players return to active status between three to six weeks after surgery.

Payton said the playing status of both Gay and Shanle against the Buccaneers ultimately will rest with an independent neurologist who will put the players through medical evaluations.

“We’ll go through the week, we’ll evaluate and we’ll list their status tomorrow,’’ Payton said. “Then, we’ll make a decision on game day.’’

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Saints beat writer Brian Allee-Walsh can be reached at balleewalsh@NewOrleans.Com

New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith wants Super Bowl over Pro Bowl

QBREES9

I like Will Smith, But I rather have the Saints win a Super Bowl then Smith go to the Pro Bowl.

UK_WhoDat

Y'think?

9thWardDesire

I just hope the rest of the team feel the same way Smith feels. Bring the Lombardi Trophy home to 5800 Airline Drive!!!

Saint_LB

Seriously...and just imagine if the flip side was the case...

Smith: "A Superbowl would be OK...but damn, man...a pro-bowl would rock!"