Alabama wide receiver and Amite native DeVonta Smith won the Heisman Trophy last night, becoming the first receiver to win the award since Desmond Howard in 1991. Smith credits his win to the hard work he put in while growing up in Amite City.
“Coming from a small place like that you really have to work hard day in and day out and if nobody else believes in your then you have to believe in yourself and prove everybody wrong,” said Smith.
Despite choosing Alabama over the home-state LSU Tigers, Smith says his hometown has been very supportive throughout his college career.
“Some of those people have seen me since I was a little kid playing youth football and youth basketball, they’ve been there every step of the way even when I decided to come here, some of them still decided to follow my journey.”
He’s only the second Louisiana native to win the prestigious award. Springhill native John David Crow won the award in 1957 after a standout season as a halfback for Paul Bear Bryant at Texas A&M.
The six-foot-one, 175-pound Smith hopes he can inspire kids who have been told they are too small to play big-time football.
“I’m not the biggest guy, I’ve been doubted a lot because of my size and really it just comes down to if you put your mind to it you can do it, no job is too big.”
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