Malcolm Smith

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Smith was ranked as the 29th best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and was ranked the 37th best outside linebacker by Scouts Inc.

Malcolm Xavier Smith (born July 5, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football for the USC Trojans.

In football, he was named to the Student Sports Sophomore All-American and Cal-Hi Sports All-State first-team as a 2004 sophomore when he had 800-plus yards of total offense and 8 touchdowns, plus 2 interceptions, as Taft won the L.A. City title.

As a junior in 2005, he made Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass first-team, All-L.A. City first-team and Los Angeles Daily News All-Area first-team while making 41 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 fumble recovery, plus running for 639 yards on 73 carries (8.8 avg.) with 10 touchdowns and catching 27 passes for 411 yards (15.2 avg.) with 7 scores as Taft was the L.A. City runnerup.

In his final year in 2006, he had 31 tackles, 10 sacks, and four fumble recoveries at linebacker and ran for 919 yards on 118 carries with 15 touchdowns as a running back, despite missing the first half of the season with a leg injury.

Also a standout track athlete, Smith competed as a sprinter for the Taft High track & field team.

He qualified for the Los Angeles City Section T&F Championships in the 100m and 200m dashes.

He recorded a personal-best time of 10.8 seconds in the 100-meter dash as a junior, and got a PR of 22.39 seconds in the 200-meter dash as a senior.

He also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds.

Smith received scholarship offers for football from Notre Dame, California, Arizona, Michigan, and Penn State.

Smith enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) in order to play college football for the USC Trojans football team.

As a true freshman in 2007, Smith played in all 13 games as a backup linebacker and special teams player.

He finished the year with six tackles and a forced fumble.

Carroll was Smith's head coach at USC from 2007–2009.

As a sophomore in 2008 he again spent time as a backup and on special teams.

He finished the season with 18 tackles in 13 games.

In the 2009 game against cross-town rival UCLA Bruins, Smith led the Trojan defense for a 28–7 win.

Smith returned the first UCLA interception 62 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

For his play, Smith was awarded the "Legend Nike Game Ball" for the National Defensive Player of the Week.

He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Smith was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLVIII after the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos.

Smith attended William Howard Taft High School, where he was a letterman in football and track.

Smith entered the 2011 NFL Draft, but did not receive an invitation to perform at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On March 30, 2011, Smith attended USC's pro day and performed all of the combine and positional drills for team representatives and scouts.

He also attended private meetings with the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.

Smith was projected to be a sixth or seventh round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

Smith was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round (242nd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Smith was the 30th linebacker drafted in 2011 and reunited with Seattle Seahawks' head coach Pete Carroll.

On July 28, 2011, the Seattle Seahawks signed Smith to a four-year, $2.08 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $45,900.

Throughout training camp, Smith competed to be a backup outside linebacker against K. J. Wright, Matt McCoy, and David Vobora.

Head coach Pete Carroll named Smith the backup weakside linebacker to start the regular season, behind Leroy Hill.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Seattle Seahawks' season-opener against the San Francisco 49ers and made two combined tackles in their 33–17 loss.

Smith made his first career regular season tackle on Ted Ginn Jr.. and stopped him for a ten-yard loss during a punt return in the second quarter.

On November 13, 2011, Smith collected a season-high four solo tackles, forced a fumble, and made his first career sack during a 22–17 victory against the Baltimore Ravens.

Smith forced a fumble by David Reed that was recovered by teammate Atari Bigby and led to a last second field goal before the end of the second quarter.

He also sacked Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco for an eight-yard loss in the fourth quarter.

Smith was inactive for the last two games of the regular season (Weeks 16–17).

He finished his rookie season in 2011 with 16 combined tackles (ten solo), a forced fumble, and a sack while appearing in 12 games with zero starts.

During training camp, Smith competed for a roster spot as a backup outside linebacker against Jameson Konz, Allen Bradford, Heath Farwell, Mike Morgan, and Kyle Knox.