Fred Smoot is used to hearing crowds shout his name, drawing out the vowels, after he makes a big play. He’ll convince himself that’s what he’ll be hearing Sunday in Minnesota.
He’ll also know better. He knows Viking fans will start their shouts with the letter B and not an S or an M.
“The good part about it, I won’t be able to tell the difference,” he said. “Out of the three or four fans that I still might have there, maybe they put a little s on the front of that boo and I’ll get a little Smoot out of it.”
To put it mildly, Smoot’s two-year tenure in Minnesota did not go smoothly. He was a central figure in the Love Boat sex scandal, which was bad enough. But he also didn’t play as well as he had in Washington. Eventually he lost his starting job.
“Fred was as excited to leave Minneapolis as anybody,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “I enjoyed Fred. He has a great personality and keeps things loose, but I’m not sure he had a great experience here. Sometimes a change of scenery is good.”
Making matters worse, Smoot’s half-brother died during the 2006 season. This year, it was Sean Taylor’s death.
“I always put God first and had my mom and everyone with me,” Smoot said. “I’ve dealt with more deaths the last couple years than the normal person would have to.”
But he at least feels good about playing in Washington.
“I love where I’m at,” he said. “As far as things that happened during the year, it’s made it kind of rough emotionally. But physically I’m happy, mentally I’m happy. I always have to be a Redskin.”
He doesn’t harbor ill will toward the Vikings, who released him last offseason. That wasn’t the case when he returned to face the Redskins in the 2006 season opener.
“I felt more attached still to the Redskins,” he said. “I felt like the brother-in-law invited back to the house but I stole something the last time I was there; it took everyone a while to forgive me but now they let me back in the house.”
Smoot missed three games because of a hamstring injury earlier this season and left the Chicago game early because he was sick (returning late in the game). But he’s coming off arguably his best game since he returned to Washington, shutting down Giants receiver Plaxico Burress on Sunday night.
“He still has room to improve,” Redskins secondary/corners coach Jerry Gray said. “He’s learning to compete like he was when he was here the first time.”
