ECU's D'Ante Smith Receives Reese's Senior Bowl Invitation
At the completion of Mike Houston's SMU week press conference, he broke the news that senior offensive lineman D'Ante Smith has been invited to the Reese's Senior Bowl.
"D’Ante Smith has accepted an invitational to the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Just like everything else, it’s going to be a different year for it. It’s going to be played on Jan. 30," said Houston, "D’Ante has had a great career here at East Carolina. I hate that he was robbed of his senior year. It certainly hurt us not having a player of his ability on the field every week."
"He’s made the decision to move on to what’s next in his career. Accepting an invitation to the Senior Bowl will give him a great opportunity to be able to perform one last time for the pro scouts ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft.”
The game is held annually in Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama and will be played on January 30.
Smith has been out with an injury for much of the season. The Senior Bowl will give him another opportunity to show what he can do for the NFL scouts in attendance.
“I’m extremely thankful. This is a big opportunity for me. I’ve been watching the Senior Bowl ever since I was in high school," said Smith, "“I talked to my coaches and they told me about it.”
With his collegiate career at East Carolina in the books, Smith reflected back on what it has meant to him to be a part of the Pirate football program.
“Coming here taught me a lot about growing up. It taught me that I could do things I had in mind for myself," Smith told PirateIllustrated.com, "When things got hard, I had people around me pushing me and keeping me on track. I really appreciate this opportunity I’ve had at East Carolina to get my degree and grow as a man.”
Smith says he is slowly getting better as he heads into the offseason.
“I’m progressing physically," Smith told PI, "I’m going to be way bigger than I’ve been the last couple years here at East Carolina. I’ll be ready to show my best."
“I’m currently still working with our strength and conditioning coaches and figuring out what I need to do.”
Sitting out this season has not been easy for Smith who expressed his disappointment on Tuesday that he couldn't enjoy more of his senior season at ECU.
“It was definitely frustrating for me. I had personal and team goals I wanted to accomplish this season. It didn’t happen the way I wanted. This year has been different for everyone, but I just have to roll with it and keep going. I thank God for everything he has put me through, and I’ll continue to grow.”
ECU concludes their football season on Saturday when the Pirates host SMU at 12 noon in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on ESPN+.
