Adversity has been the rule through the first three seasons of Arian Smith’s collegiate career. Since his arrival in Athens prior to the covid-plagued 2020 season, the Georgia wide receiver has dealt with a multitude of injuries including two separate wrist injuries, a broken leg, a meniscus injury, turf toe, a significant high ankle sprain, and various soft-tissue injuries. Those injuries combined to limit him to just 28 total snaps over the course of his first two college football seasons. Nevertheless, when he has been healthy enough to be on the field, Smith has flashed world-class speed and elite playmaking ability, highlighted by his 3 receptions, and 129-yard performance against Ohio State in the 2022 Peach Bowl. Smith enters his Junior season looking to translate flashes of brilliance into consistently elite production at the wide receiver position. On Tuesday, he spoke with the media to discuss his tribulations at Georgia and his ambitions for the future.
While adversity has been a consistent theme throughout his Georgia career to this point, Smith insisted that he has moved beyond the injuries and is, instead, focused on making the most of the remainder of his time in Athens.
“I’m really just focused on the time, the present. I really try not to think about the future or the past. If it happened, it happened.”
Yet, while his focus may be on the present, Smith also conceded that the hardships that he has endured have taught him lessons that will better enable him to accomplish his goals moving forward. When asked to expound upon what he has learned from his injuries, Smith explained, “Just not taking things for granted. Take everything seriously. When I’m here, get rehab, go to sleep on time. I’m taking care of my body.”
Smith enrolled at Georgia as a two-sport star with designs to participate in both football and track in college. As a prep football player, Smith was a raw talent with elite physical tools but lacked technical polish. Smith’s various injuries not only robbed him of game reps, but they also robbed him of the valuable reps on the practice field that he was so desperately in need of in order to develop into a well-rounded receiver. To his credit, Smith expressed awareness of his continued need to develop and sharpen his craft:
“My mindset is get better at football, just as a whole. Not just going deep, but the small stuff, too. Everything, details, blocking, catching short routes, taking it for 50. Mostly everything.”
Smith - who was named an All-American in 2021 as a part-time track athlete - made his commitment to improving as a football player clear when he revealed he has made the decision to sacrifice a promising track career: “It’s still really up in the air, but not really. I don’t think I’m going to run. I’m going to focus on football.” Smith did express a degree of ambivalence about giving up his track career, but was ultimately resolute in his decision: “I do want to run. I came here to run track and play football but my first priority was football, so it’s going to be tough, but I know what I’m here for.”
As he enters his fourth season in the Georgia Football program, Arian Smith is determined to overcome the adversity that has frustrated his career to this point and is fully committed to translating his elite potential into elite production.
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