Family

As much as I love football, I try very hard to keep the perspective that it is just a game. In the big picture, football is just a form of entertainment that people enjoy. People use it as a form of escape from the rough day-to-day that we all deal with.

Maybe that's what was on the mind of Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith. He had found out early yesterday morning that his younger brother, Tevin Jones, had been killed in a motorcycle accident. For Smith, this sudden death was new territory:"...I never really had to deal with a death in the family, let alone my brother. In our family, everyone's so tight. Just like a lot of other families." Smith was a father figure to his six younger siblings growing up, helping them get ready for school while his mother both attended school and worked.

While it would have understandable for Smith to miss the game, he didn't. He contacted head coach John Harbaugh and told him that he wanted to play in last night's game against the New England Patriots. "I texted my mom when I got to the stadium. That was when I knew I was going to play," Smith said. "She was excited about it. She said, `He'd want you to play.'"

"He'd want you to play."

"When Torrey said he wanted to play, then the decision was finished,'' Harbaugh said. "He was going to get the opportunity to play. He deserved that. If it didn't work out, then we'd have known, and he'd have known. Obviously he's a pretty special guy.''

 

Smith caught six balls for 127 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Ravens to defeat the Pats. 

 

In one way, I'm not surprised that he was able to excel the way he did. He actually had the support of two families, his blood family as well as his Raven family. The team dedicated a January 2011 playoff win to safety Ed Reed after his brother had drowned only days before. As Reed said, ""It's just something about having two families," Reed said. "When I went through losing my brother, being around these guys, it really helped me get through. To play and have the game he had, that's when we all have to sit back and know that God is working."

 

All the time.