Thread: Point Made Smith Says

I am glad he seems ready to accept what has happened and except his consequence

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/15513651.htm

Point made, Smith says
Childress set an example with him, and safety is OK with it
BY SEAN JENSEN
Pioneer Press

Vikings starting safety Dwight Smith regards himself as a playmaker, and he revels in the spotlight.

So Smith, the only NFL player to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a Super Bowl, agonized Monday night when he was deactivated for the Vikings' season opener because of an off-field misstep last month.

But Smith said Wednesday that he respects the culture of accountability coach Brad Childress is creating at Winter Park, even if he was one of the first examples.

"We sat down and talked about it," Smith said. "(Childress) felt this was the first step for him putting his team in line. He's showing that he's proactive on anything that's not right for the team, and you got to appreciate that. If you want a winning team, that's what you want."

Smith was grateful for how diplomatically Childress handled the entire situation. Smith was cited and ticketed for indecent conduct in downtown Minneapolis early in the morning of Aug. 26, hours after the Vikings defeated the Baltimore Ravens in an exhibition game at the Metrodome.

"You, as a man, respect another man who talks to you, not as an employee in times like that," Smith said. "Because when you're in that time of something, where everybody is trying to make you out to be the bad guy, you don't need to come to work and your boss feels the same way."

But Smith was perturbed by two things: people jumping to conclusions about what happened that night and people persecuting defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin, who vouched for him before he signed on July 25.

"People pass judgment before the whole story is out," said Smith, who was especially upset about rumors circulating about what happened that night. "Don't nobody know the story. If it was such a bad thing, we would have had court dates and things like that.

"Once everything comes out, everybody will see," Smith said. "But I'm glad it's behind me."

As for Tomlin, Smith said, "The thing that upset me the most was they (the media) tried to challenge his character for bringing me here.

"That was the whole story about me coming here, was because of coach Tomlin," Smith said. "So they associate us together for the good, and they associate us together for the bad also. And I didn't want him to be seen in that light, because we all make our own decisions."

When Childress told Greg Blue that he would be starting the opener against the Washington Redskins in Smith's place, the veteran immediately approached the rookie to lend his support.

"I told him every time he came off the field to come talk to me, because I might see a few things," Smith said. "But I'm not going to say I was the reason he played as well as he did because I believe he's a (heck) of a football player, and he stepped up and took the challenge."

On the sideline, Blue said Smith gave him tips on his role in different coverages, based on what the Redskins were doing.

"That meant a lot to me right there," Blue said. "I still had his support, and he wanted to make sure I was all right out there."

Although Blue was solid, recording six tackles, the Vikings are looking forward to Smith's return.

"He's going to be a guy who makes plays for us and helps us out," Vikings safety Darren Sharper said. "It'll be good to get all our weapons back."

After developing a rapport with the other starting defensive backs, Smith is looking forward to at least replicating the success he had in Tampa with players like John Lynch and Ronde Barber.

"I couldn't have ended up in a better situation," Smith said. "When you got four veteran guys like we do, different guys bring different things to the table. So on game day, we all have input, and we all take it from each other."

This week, Smith has been practicing with the starting defense, and Childress said on his weekly show on KFAN-AM that the veteran will resume his usual role. Smith is ready to move forward.

"If we get it out of the way as soon as possible, that was the best thing for all of us," Smith said. "The first game is over. I paid my debt for it, and we've got 15 games left, and hopefully I can help us with these 15 weeks."

Sean Jensen can be reached at [email protected]

Two things strike me in this article as being supurb illustrations of why I think Childress is going to be a GREAT coach:
1.

But Smith said Wednesday that he respects the culture of accountability coach Brad Childress is creating at Winter Park, even if he was one of the first examples.
"We sat down and talked about it," Smith said. "(Childress) felt this was the first step for him putting his team in line. He's showing that he's proactive on anything that's not right for the team, and you got to appreciate that. If you want a winning team, that's what you want."

Childress knows how to deal with his players and demand their respect without trying to be a "buddy" as Tice was.

2.

When Childress told Greg Blue that he would be starting the opener against the Washington Redskins in Smith's place, the veteran immediately approached the rookie to lend his support.

This shows that the Vikings are working as a TEAM not a bunch of individuals. Can you imagine the reaction if this had happed to TO -- what his actions would have been?

Congrats go out to Smith and Childress for handling this so well.

This is just another taste of the New Look Vikings,




Seems to me the situation was handled in a professional way and everyone can move on from here.




Smith sounds like he's a stand up guy to me.
This is just another sign of how our Team is playing and portraying themeselves as a Team...





Kudos to all.....

I am definately impressed with the way Smith supported Blue during the game.
Classy.

i for one am glad childress is sticking to his guns, i was a little peeved about childress blowing smoke up our arses with the acountablility, and the change that we kept hearing about. wasent sure if it was the right choice to make this acountablility #1 priority, but its working, smith isnt mad (good attitude about it), and with the crap thats been going on with this team for 4or 5 years, its a healthy change. i was a little concerned before, but making a statement like this made sure the players know whose in charge (unlike previous coaching staffs).

now, smoot and mckinnie hadent been benched, but correct me if im wrong, but didnt the "code of conduct" come out after the boat scandal?
so people bringing up that they didnt get benched doesnt hold water (if indeed the code came out afterwards)

anyways, i was skeptical, but im impressed overall with childress. and its only week 1, and had they lost, i still would have been impressed. though winning always helps ;D

Good read...I like how he was willing to help Blue anyway he could! Team Player

i can't wait to see our D with smith in the mix.

and the way both handled their respective ends of the situation was just all class and team!!

great work Smith!!!


DiGiTaL

"petrodemos" wrote:

i for one am glad childress is sticking to his guns, i was a little peeved about childress blowing smoke up our arses with the acountablility, and the change that we kept hearing about. wasent sure if it was the right choice to make this acountablility #1 priority, but its working, smith isnt mad (good attitude about it), and with the crap thats been going on with this team for 4or 5 years, its a healthy change. i was a little concerned before, but making a statement like this made sure the players know whose in charge (unlike previous coaching staffs).

now, smoot and mckinnie hadent been benched, but correct me if im wrong, but didnt the "code of conduct" come out after the boat scandal?
so people bringing up that they didnt get benched doesnt hold water (if indeed the code came out afterwards)

anyways, i was skeptical, but im impressed overall with childress. and its only week 1, and had they lost, i still would have been impressed. though winning always helps ;D

Besides the fact that the code of conduct came after the boat incident, another fact is this.





TICE was the coach during that time, NOT Childress......





I'm sure Childress came in and one of the first things he said and did was ( I remember reading this somewhere) he gave all the players a clean slate and new start in his eyes...

I'm glad to see this new sense of teamwork and discipline coming about with the new coaching staff.
This new Vikings team is starting to come around as a whole and i can't wait to see how we roll w/ all the pieces of the puzzle running on all cylinders!
Have faith in Brad folks!

It shows a LOT of character that Smith handled it the way he did...good choice Childress and Tomlin!

If Smith got his game check taken from him, I sure hope that "stuff" was good....because it sure was expensive!!!
LOL