De’Veon Smith didn’t even bother reaching out to anyone to tell about what happened, because it was too odd to even describe.
“I’m not that type of guy. It is what it is,” Smith was saying over the phone from his hometown of Warren, Ohio, fresh off feeding his 15-month-old twins. “I’m happy it got out, but I was fortunate it got out. Nobody would’ve believed me if I said it to them, you know what I mean?”
Indeed, news of him being released by the Pittsburgh Maulers was announced on April Fool’s Day. Even now, after a “whirlwind” 24 hours of going viral, Smith had to chuckle a little bit.
“My mom was having a hard time,” he said, “like, ‘What really happened?’ But she believed me afterward.”
After the video made the rounds, that is. In an inside-the-USFL type of show to promote the newest spring football league — think HBO’s “Hard Knocks” — Maulers coach Kirby Wilson sits down Smith in his office and gives the former Michigan running back some bad news.
Smith is being cut by the team because he violated one of Wilson’s primary rules — any disrespect of football or members of the staff, USFL, etc., will not be tolerated — “and it has been brought to my attention that has occurred with you.”
“He crossed the line, so we had to deal with it,” Wilson says in a stand-up interview for the documentary.
In the meeting, Wilson allows Smith to tell the backstory of the “disrespect,” but is firm in that the matter is over and done with. Smith, now that the whole episode has gone viral and resulted in plenty of criticism for Wilson, the Maulers and the league, isn’t changing his tune.
After practice one day, the players went to eat, and he saw that the only option on the menu was a chicken salad sandwich. He doesn’t eat chicken salad, but he saw that pizza was also available, and asked someone in USFL operations if he could have a slice — “I didn’t ask for a whole box, I asked for a slice,” Smith points out.
According to Smith, the staffer told him that chicken salad was the only option and asked if that would be a problem. Smith replied yes, it would be, because he needed an alternative. The next morning, around 7 a.m., he had a text from Wilson.
“I think it was kind of unfair that my coach didn't seek — I understand the dude went and told him whatever the situation was, and he didn’t come to me,” Smith said of Wilson, who was a running backs coach for the Steelers from 2007-13 and retired for a year before joining the USFL. “That was my first time seeing him, right then and there in that interview. I didn’t talk to him [about the food] prior to that.”
The Maulers issued a statement Monday evening, after Smith spoke with the Post-Gazette, disputing at least part of Smith’s characterization of the incident.
“On the first episode of ‘United by Football’ … De’Veon Smith was shown on camera being cut from our team by coach Kirby Wilson,” the team states. “The show captures hundreds of hours of film with the intent of providing transparency to fans, but unfortunately, much of the context was left out in this moment. Smith had violated three team rules in a 24-hour span, and in this particular incident, disrespected a cafeteria worker, which wasn’t captured on camera.
“Smith has subsequently reached out to coach Wilson to apologize, and asked to be reinstated to the Maulers’ roster.”
There’s no denying Smith wants back in the league. He didn’t even make it through one week of training camp. Other than that morning, Smith claims he and Wilson had a fine relationship. He remembers that the day before the food incident, one of his aunts died, and Wilson was texting him to keep his head up.
Smith adds that since he was sent packing, Wilson reached out and told him that if another team calls, he won’t speak down on his character. And make no mistake, Smith insists he wants to continue pursuing a pro career.
“I think he’s a great guy, but it was just unfortunate how the situation went down,” he said of Wilson, a first-time head coach at any level. “I thought he would at least want to hear my side of the story, rather than just jump to conclusions.”
For those who wonder if the Maulers released him in this unusual way because he wasn’t going to be an asset on the field, Smith calls that “irrelevant.” In his view, the team had barely practiced to that point, just some walk-through and “tempo” periods, in which Wilson never complained about his ability or work ethic.
“It couldn't have been that. It was just his rule, and I guess he stuck to his word,” Smith said. “I guess I got an example made of for the rest of the team, which is fine."
Getting caught up in this wacky, weird Internet story that has perhaps generated more buzz than anything that happened on the field this past weekend in the inaugural slate of USFL games wasn’t something Smith expected. He acknowledged that he wishes he were playing Monday night, when the Maulers open their season after having Sunday night’s game postponed due to weather.
But Smith will be watching, rooting for his brief former teammates to beat the Tampa Bay Bandits. In case you were wondering, he’s still been able to enjoy some pizza, even though it may have scuttled his chance to catch on in the USFL.
“Actually, yeah, I had it two nights ago,” Smith laughed. “I know I didn't do anything wrong, or say anything wrong. People just make an assumption that something happened prior to that. Nothing happened prior to that. I’m a stand-up guy.”
This story was updated at 6:20 p.m. on April 18.
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: April 18, 2022, 8:18 p.m.
Updated: April 18, 2022, 10:22 p.m.
