Hayden Smith TE

Yankeejet22 · 07-31-2012, 09:44 AM

While I am rooting for UDFA Tarren Lloyd to make the team as the 3rd TE behind Keller & Cumberland (Josh Baker is listed as FB/TE, an also will make the team), I am very intrigued by Hayden Smith's potential. Here's a good read...

For Jets Rookie, a Crash Course in Football

At 26, Hayden Smith decided to abandon a promising rugby career to relocate to the United States from England so he could learn to play tight end for the Jets.

CORTLAND, N.Y. — Hayden Smith hails from a magnificent part of this planet, the Blue Mountains of Australia, about 90 minutes west of Sydney. A national park brimming with gorges and waterfalls and breathtaking lookouts abuts his postage stamp of a hometown, Bullaburra, where he flourished in basketball, dabbled in cricket and enjoyed a pleasant upbringing with doting parents and two younger brothers. There is nowhere else he would rather have grown up, he said.

And yet, from time to time Smith wonders: what if he had been born in a football hotbed like Texas or Ohio or Florida? For sure he would have played as a youngster, in high school, in college, chasing a traditional path to a roster spot with the Jets instead of the journey described by friends as “bananas,” “unheard-of” and “absolutely crazy.”

At 26, Smith decided to abandon a promising rugby career to relocate to the United States from England — his third transoceanic move for his third sport in eight years — so he could learn to play what is widely regarded as the most demanding and nuanced game in the world at its highest level. In April, the Jets signed Smith to a three-year contract, hoping to mold a 6-foot-6, 255-pound athlete into a viable tight end. In May, at their rookie minicamp, Smith put on a helmet for the first time.

“I came into this wanting to be successful, not, ‘Oh, we’ll see what happens,’ ” Smith said. “I’m 100 percent committed to football. It’s something that I desperately wanted to do, and I didn’t want to live my life with any regrets. I couldn’t live with myself if I never gave it a try.”

Since attending his first game, Baltimore at Denver on Oct. 9, 2006, when he barely knew that a possession consisted of four downs, Smith has been enraptured by what he called “the very physical form of chess.” In embarking on this quest, Smith, now 27, appears guided by the philosophy of the British mountaineer George Mallory, who, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, quipped, “Because it’s there.” The lure of blazing a trail — not a raging ego or a plea for attention — is what motivates Smith, same as it did four years ago.

On a whim, after his basketball scholarship at Division II Metropolitan State in Denver expired, he played his first game of rugby since childhood. Within weeks, he was added to the United States national team, the USA Eagles. Within a few months, he had signed with Saracens, a top club in England.

This challenge, as Smith readily acknowledged, will be much more difficult. But in many ways, his background in basketball and rugby has prepared him.

“I’ve always said of a coach, ‘You can’t put in what God left out,’ ” said Scott Johnson, the former USA Eagles coach who discovered Smith at that club rugby match outside Denver in 2008. And Smith, particularly for a man his size, possessed exceptional leaping skills and hands so soft that a former coach at Saracens, Paul Gustard, compared them to a pillow.

“What set him apart was how strong he was in the air, how he fought for the ball,” Gustard said. “If someone else tried to snatch the ball away, Hayden would never lose that fight. He would always take the ball down.”

It is a special talent, and one that is valued just as much in the N.F.L., where raw projects can morph into elite tight ends. One of them, Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers, was shaped by Tim Brewster. At the request of Smith’s agent, Jack Bechta, Brewster flew to California in March to spend a week tutoring Smith.

About eight months earlier, before deciding to pursue an N.F.L. career, Smith walked into Bechta’s office wearing a rugby uniform of short shorts and a tight sleeveless shirt. Bechta said he immediately thought of one person: Rob Gronkowski, the New England Patriots’ hulking tight end with power forward size but wide receiver speed. By the end of their week together, a week loaded with footwork drills and route concepts and defensive-front recognition, Brewster was referring to Smith as Gronk.

“There’s no way to really express how far behind the eight ball he is,” Brewster said. “But let’s think outside the box a little bit: because he’s never done it, does that mean he can’t?”

Proceeding to answer his own question, Brewster said, “I’m here to tell you, I believe he’ll make it happen.”

Mike Devlin, the Jets’ tight ends coach, added: “It’s going to click. I just know it.”

Only seven Australians have played in the N.F.L., according to Pro-Football-Reference.com, and six have been punters. The other, defensive tackle Colin Scotts, played at the University of Hawaii. As he mulled how to teach Smith, Devlin operated under the assumption that his new student knew nothing about football. “And what he thought he knew,” Devlin said, “he didn’t know.”

Devlin’s first tactic? Reviewing the proper stance. Smith showed great aptitude at Saracens for absorbing formations and principles, but rugby has no playbooks.

“A little daunting,” Smith said, as is studying the intricacies of what is, besides quarterback, perhaps the most complex position on offense, with blocks and protections and routes and motions and shifts.

He peppers Dustin Keller, the starting tight end and his training camp roommate, with questions — “there’s no Cover 3 in rugby,” Keller said — and then analyzes videotape of Keller’s release off the line of scrimmage. Devlin watched film of rugby and studied its terminology in hope of relating phrases or concepts to football, but that didn’t work. Gradually, he realized that barking commands at Smith like, “Get physical on the sideline when you’re on the ball” would produce an unintended effect. Taking his orders literally, Smith would hit teammates out of bounds.

“If you generalize about Australians, they’re predisposed for contact,” said Mike Dunlap, the Charlotte Bobcats’ new coach, who coached three years in Australia before recruiting Smith to Metropolitan State. “I think Hayden fit that to the Nth degree.”

The physicality of football appealed to Smith as a boy, but not as much its spectacle. When he would watch Dallas Cowboys games on television, what lodged in his memory were not Emmitt Smith touchdowns or Deion Sanders interceptions but camera shots of a rowdy, pulsating crowd. He longed to perform in that environment. He vowed that someday he would.

Smith is more likely to land on the Jets’ practice squad than their 53-man roster, but he envisions running onto the MetLife Stadium field on Sept. 9, for the season opener against Buffalo. The swamps of New Jersey do not compare with the beauty of Bullaburra, but Smith has a hunch that there is nowhere else he would rather be.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/sp...pagewanted=all

bitonti · 07-31-2012, 12:04 PM

as a tight end he's super raw. but as a kick off coverage guy, running down the field with his hair on fire... he might be awesome.

JetsNeedNewton · 07-31-2012, 12:35 PM

I think I heard 3 catches and 1 drop at camp so far, pretty darn promising!

Yankeejet22 · 07-31-2012, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitonti

as a tight end he's super raw. but as a kick off coverage guy, running down the field with his hair on fire... he might be awesome.

Great point. Or maybe as a ferocious blocker on kick-off returns.

Kentucky Jet · 07-31-2012, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitonti

as a tight end he's super raw. but as a kick off coverage guy, running down the field with his hair on fire... he might be awesome.

Hey bit: Its good to see you here!

JetPotato · 07-31-2012, 02:32 PM

All he needs to do is master the art of the false start, which based on last season, is all the Jets require of their backup TE.

NY's stepchild · 07-31-2012, 02:53 PM

Antonio Gates was just as raw when he came out of nowhere. If the guy is smart, and instinctive, which he appears to be, we just may have something. Tis the season for long shots panning out I think.

lamont_jordan_rules · 07-31-2012, 06:05 PM

... would def be a feel good story

... rooting for him ...

l_j_r

JetsNeedNewton · 07-31-2012, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NY's stepchild

Antonio Gates was just as raw when he came out of nowhere. If the guy is smart, and instinctive, which he appears to be, we just may have something. Tis the season for long shots panning out I think.

Yes, I agree. A ton of potential in our draft picks, Hayden, safeties... lot's of if's but if just a couple shine it will be enough.

flgreen · 07-31-2012, 07:31 PM

As a foreign player, I believe , Hayden would get an international roster exemption. He has a decent chance to make the team

C Mart · 07-31-2012, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flgreen

As a foreign player, I believe , Hayden would get an international roster exemption. He has a decent chance to make the team

I think that applies to the practice squad not the 53 man roster. So the Jets could carry 9 guys on the PS. But i might be wrong.

jets31 · 08-01-2012, 09:39 AM

Well he does wear #82. To be honest he doesnt look much different then Mulligan in uniform.

Saw him on monday make a short little catch on a out pattern then fumble the ball. He did recover it himself but overall this guy seems really raw.

I think he would be lucky to make the team. The only real chance he has is that the jets are very thin at TE.

Keller is the only lock. How many will we keep 3? Which may or may not be counting the long snapper.

FijiJet · 08-01-2012, 06:08 PM

This dude seems to have a lot going for him. Great size, athleticism, coordination, physicality etc it'll take time for him to get the nuances down but he is highly regarded by the TE coaches etc so he definitely has the potential to be productive he prolly just needs patience and extra coaching to bring him up to speed. This is one investment that could pay off handsomely for the Jets if they play it right

flgreen · 08-01-2012, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Mart

I think that applies to the practice squad not the 53 man roster. So the Jets could carry 9 guys on the PS. But i might be wrong.

I checked

Your right. Guess he'll at least make the PS, which is probably exactly what he needs

07-31-2012, 09:44 AM	#1
Yankeejet22 You didn't show them, Mark :( Veteran Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: northern jersey Posts: 2,449	Hayden Smith TE While I am rooting for UDFA Tarren Lloyd to make the team as the 3rd TE behind Keller & Cumberland (Josh Baker is listed as FB/TE, an also will make the team), I am very intrigued by Hayden Smith's potential. Here's a good read... For Jets Rookie, a Crash Course in Football At 26, Hayden Smith decided to abandon a promising rugby career to relocate to the United States from England so he could learn to play tight end for the Jets. CORTLAND, N.Y. — Hayden Smith hails from a magnificent part of this planet, the Blue Mountains of Australia, about 90 minutes west of Sydney. A national park brimming with gorges and waterfalls and breathtaking lookouts abuts his postage stamp of a hometown, Bullaburra, where he flourished in basketball, dabbled in cricket and enjoyed a pleasant upbringing with doting parents and two younger brothers. There is nowhere else he would rather have grown up, he said. And yet, from time to time Smith wonders: what if he had been born in a football hotbed like Texas or Ohio or Florida? For sure he would have played as a youngster, in high school, in college, chasing a traditional path to a roster spot with the Jets instead of the journey described by friends as “bananas,” “unheard-of” and “absolutely crazy.” At 26, Smith decided to abandon a promising rugby career to relocate to the United States from England — his third transoceanic move for his third sport in eight years — so he could learn to play what is widely regarded as the most demanding and nuanced game in the world at its highest level. In April, the Jets signed Smith to a three-year contract, hoping to mold a 6-foot-6, 255-pound athlete into a viable tight end. In May, at their rookie minicamp, Smith put on a helmet for the first time. “I came into this wanting to be successful, not, ‘Oh, we’ll see what happens,’ ” Smith said. “I’m 100 percent committed to football. It’s something that I desperately wanted to do, and I didn’t want to live my life with any regrets. I couldn’t live with myself if I never gave it a try.” Since attending his first game, Baltimore at Denver on Oct. 9, 2006, when he barely knew that a possession consisted of four downs, Smith has been enraptured by what he called “the very physical form of chess.” In embarking on this quest, Smith, now 27, appears guided by the philosophy of the British mountaineer George Mallory, who, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, quipped, “Because it’s there.” The lure of blazing a trail — not a raging ego or a plea for attention — is what motivates Smith, same as it did four years ago. On a whim, after his basketball scholarship at Division II Metropolitan State in Denver expired, he played his first game of rugby since childhood. Within weeks, he was added to the United States national team, the USA Eagles. Within a few months, he had signed with Saracens, a top club in England. This challenge, as Smith readily acknowledged, will be much more difficult. But in many ways, his background in basketball and rugby has prepared him. “I’ve always said of a coach, ‘You can’t put in what God left out,’ ” said Scott Johnson, the former USA Eagles coach who discovered Smith at that club rugby match outside Denver in 2008. And Smith, particularly for a man his size, possessed exceptional leaping skills and hands so soft that a former coach at Saracens, Paul Gustard, compared them to a pillow. “What set him apart was how strong he was in the air, how he fought for the ball,” Gustard said. “If someone else tried to snatch the ball away, Hayden would never lose that fight. He would always take the ball down.” It is a special talent, and one that is valued just as much in the N.F.L., where raw projects can morph into elite tight ends. One of them, Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers, was shaped by Tim Brewster. At the request of Smith’s agent, Jack Bechta, Brewster flew to California in March to spend a week tutoring Smith. About eight months earlier, before deciding to pursue an N.F.L. career, Smith walked into Bechta’s office wearing a rugby uniform of short shorts and a tight sleeveless shirt. Bechta said he immediately thought of one person: Rob Gronkowski, the New England Patriots’ hulking tight end with power forward size but wide receiver speed. By the end of their week together, a week loaded with footwork drills and route concepts and defensive-front recognition, Brewster was referring to Smith as Gronk. “There’s no way to really express how far behind the eight ball he is,” Brewster said. “But let’s think outside the box a little bit: because he’s never done it, does that mean he can’t?” Proceeding to answer his own question, Brewster said, “I’m here to tell you, I believe he’ll make it happen.” Mike Devlin, the Jets’ tight ends coach, added: “It’s going to click. I just know it.” Only seven Australians have played in the N.F.L., according to Pro-Football-Reference.com, and six have been punters. The other, defensive tackle Colin Scotts, played at the University of Hawaii. As he mulled how to teach Smith, Devlin operated under the assumption that his new student knew nothing about football. “And what he thought he knew,” Devlin said, “he didn’t know.” Devlin’s first tactic? Reviewing the proper stance. Smith showed great aptitude at Saracens for absorbing formations and principles, but rugby has no playbooks. “A little daunting,” Smith said, as is studying the intricacies of what is, besides quarterback, perhaps the most complex position on offense, with blocks and protections and routes and motions and shifts. He peppers Dustin Keller, the starting tight end and his training camp roommate, with questions — “there’s no Cover 3 in rugby,” Keller said — and then analyzes videotape of Keller’s release off the line of scrimmage. Devlin watched film of rugby and studied its terminology in hope of relating phrases or concepts to football, but that didn’t work. Gradually, he realized that barking commands at Smith like, “Get physical on the sideline when you’re on the ball” would produce an unintended effect. Taking his orders literally, Smith would hit teammates out of bounds. “If you generalize about Australians, they’re predisposed for contact,” said Mike Dunlap, the Charlotte Bobcats’ new coach, who coached three years in Australia before recruiting Smith to Metropolitan State. “I think Hayden fit that to the Nth degree.” The physicality of football appealed to Smith as a boy, but not as much its spectacle. When he would watch Dallas Cowboys games on television, what lodged in his memory were not Emmitt Smith touchdowns or Deion Sanders interceptions but camera shots of a rowdy, pulsating crowd. He longed to perform in that environment. He vowed that someday he would. Smith is more likely to land on the Jets’ practice squad than their 53-man roster, but he envisions running onto the MetLife Stadium field on Sept. 9, for the season opener against Buffalo. The swamps of New Jersey do not compare with the beauty of Bullaburra, but Smith has a hunch that there is nowhere else he would rather be. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/sp...pagewanted=all

07-31-2012, 12:04 PM	#2
bitonti searching Hall Of Fame Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Philly Posts: 38,786	as a tight end he's super raw. but as a kick off coverage guy, running down the field with his hair on fire... he might be awesome.

07-31-2012, 12:35 PM	#3
JetsNeedNewton Jets Insider VIP Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 1,688	I think I heard 3 catches and 1 drop at camp so far, pretty darn promising!

07-31-2012, 02:32 PM	#6
JetPotato fermenting Hall Of Fame Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New York, NY Posts: 12,134	All he needs to do is master the art of the false start, which based on last season, is all the Jets require of their backup TE.

07-31-2012, 02:53 PM	#7
NY's stepchild Here's hoping that GS3 under center, and Coples on the edge works out. All League Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hawthorne NJ Posts: 4,713	Antonio Gates was just as raw when he came out of nowhere. If the guy is smart, and instinctive, which he appears to be, we just may have something. Tis the season for long shots panning out I think.

07-31-2012, 06:05 PM	#8
lamont_jordan_rules Can't Wait To See Marty Mornhinweg's Offense! Hall of Fame Charter JI Member Join Date: May 1999 Location: Atlanta via NJ Posts: 6,241	... would def be a feel good story ... rooting for him ... l_j_r

07-31-2012, 07:31 PM	#10
flgreen Veteran Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,045	As a foreign player, I believe , Hayden would get an international roster exemption. He has a decent chance to make the team

08-01-2012, 09:39 AM	#12
jets31 ready to NARFLE THE GARTHOK! Veteran Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ithaca, NY Posts: 1,877	Well he does wear #82. To be honest he doesnt look much different then Mulligan in uniform. Saw him on monday make a short little catch on a out pattern then fumble the ball. He did recover it himself but overall this guy seems really raw. I think he would be lucky to make the team. The only real chance he has is that the jets are very thin at TE. Keller is the only lock. How many will we keep 3? Which may or may not be counting the long snapper.

08-01-2012, 06:08 PM	#13
FijiJet waiting for our pass rush thunderbolt All League Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,438	This dude seems to have a lot going for him. Great size, athleticism, coordination, physicality etc it'll take time for him to get the nuances down but he is highly regarded by the TE coaches etc so he definitely has the potential to be productive he prolly just needs patience and extra coaching to bring him up to speed. This is one investment that could pay off handsomely for the Jets if they play it right