Mike Shanahan Explains The Release Of Hunter Smith

There has been a pretty widespread assumption that Hunter Smith was released because of the botched hold at the end of the Buccaneers game. You would think that, at the very least, it didn't help. But Mike Shanahan today claimed that it was Smith's entire body of work, not just one costly play. In fact, Shanahan said, Smith's response to his miscue almost bought the punter a little more time on the squad. "I told Hunter, I said I admired the way he stepped up and blamed it on himself. I said it was a combination of the snap and the hold, but Hunter's the type of guy that took full responsibility for it. 'For that,' I said, 'I was gonna keep you just for the way you handled yourself.'" But Shanahan is the head coach, which means that a player being a stand-up guy is all well and good, but his ability to do what the coaches need takes precedence. "Over the last twenty punts I think he's had two that we'd consider the hangtime th...