Where is jeff smoker 2010

If not, his name was Jeff Smoker, and if you follow Spartan football at all, you've heard the name for sure. Smoker had one of the finest arms in college football back in the day, and Mel Kiper Jr. Although Smoker came off the board in the sixth round of the draft, he still made the St.

Louis Rams' squad. He bounced around NFL rosters between and , including two stints with the St. Louis Rams, and stops in Philadelphia and Kansas City. He then played in the Arena Football League for Nashville and Arizona franchises until the league folded in He has worked in sales jobs in the Grand Rapids area since, and hopes to have a business career in West Michigan.

E-mail Greg Johnson: gjohnson grpress. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Jeff also has decided, on his own, that he can no longer do this to himself, those who care about him, and those who depend on him.

We are truly sorry for the distraction this has brought to a program that gave him this wonderful opportunity. Our only wish now is that we may focus our energy solely on Jeff's recovery, and that the Spartan staff may focus their energy on coaching the football team. I call us all to look at Jeff beyond his quarterback role, because he is a young man fighting a very difficult human battle.

And support is crucial. Substance abuse, a serious issue in our society, must be met head-on by those of us in leadership roles, especially in roles dealing with young people. Jeff's situation, we hope, is an isolated one, both in its nature and degree.

But as Athletics Director I have been made aware of rumors from within and outside the football program involving possible related matters.

Much will depend on Smoker, the second-ranked passer in the Big Ten, for whom every game is a small step in a long recovery from addictions that nearly ended his career. A year ago last week, two days before a game against Wisconsin, Smoker walked into the brick-walled office of Bobby Williams, Michigan State's embattled coach at the time, and confessed to a party-mad lifestyle driven by the abuse of controlled substances.

Smoker has declined to name the drugs, but he told SI last week, "I used a little bit of everything. I don't want people to assume the worst.

But it wasn't any one thing that got me. It was all of them. Williams had no choice but to suspend Smoker. He also gave Smoker the names of on-and off-campus support organizations for substance abusers and implored him to contact his parents. Smoker almost immediately placed that call home, to Manheim, Pa. They raised me. Gave me things. Made a good life for me. And now I did this, and it hurt them badly.

Jeff's older brother, Bob, 28, says, "It was a shock to the family. None of us was sure how to handle it. Jay and Sue Smoker drove the nine hours from Manheim to East Lansing the next day, and before the weekend was out, Jeff was a patient in a residential treatment center. He stayed there two weeks and then spent nearly eight months reconstructing his life and his football career. Home for Smoker had been a one-story brick ranch on a little more than one acre outside Manheim, a town of 4, at the center of a southeastern Pennsylvania triangle formed by Harrisburg, Lancaster and Reading.

Every weekend in the fall the M. When Manheim plays on the road, its fans arrive at the opposing school as early as noon for a Friday-night game to get prime bleacher seats. In this environment Jeff was an icon before he could do algebra.

Jeff was Manheim's starting varsity quarterback for three years, during which his teams went He had to be perfect. Smoker walked into that uncertain situation with a huge reputation; four quarterbacks transferred when he signed, including Bradlee Van Pelt, now the starter at Colorado State.