Troy Smith - Class Act

I remain a bit surprised by - as well as irritated with, the behavior of a great many of the Ohio State fans I encountered in Arizona. Having been born in Ohio myself, I was under the impression that Midwest people, in general, didn’t behave in the way most of these fans did. I have been to literally hundreds of SEC games, and have never, ever seen the fans of an SEC school behave the way some Buckeye fans did before this game.

One fan even said something that I will not repeat to my wife before the game. When, as a man you are reduced to shouting obscenities at 5 foot tall women, I sincerely question your level of class.

One Buckeye whose class is unquestionable however is Troy Smith.

I remember saying to my wife when Smith accepted the Heisman trophy that his was the best acceptance speech I had ever heard. His comments after this game were no different - they were thoughtful, reasoned and generous. He gave credit where due, and made no excuses.

According to what I have read from Gator defensive players, Smith remained relatively well composed as his offensive line folded around him. If there is fault to be assessed in this game, Smith’s play was not by far the worst problem. His Heisman was well deserved, and I think NFL teams would be making a mistake to count this game against Troy Smith.

I sincerely wish Smith the best in the NFL. He deserves no less.