Tykee Smith reflects on first Georgia start, how he got there
Georgia defensive back Tykee Smith arrived in Athens prior to the 2021 season with big expectations but didn’t make his first career start for the Bulldogs until last Saturday against the Missouri Tigers. That’s because Smith, who came from West Virginia where he earned AP Third Team All-American, dealt with injuries that kept him out of the first five games last season and shortly after suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Now that he’s officially healthy and back in action for the Bulldogs, Smith appreciates the opportunity that he has been given on the Georgia defense.
“It means a lot to me, just being able to go out there and help the team any way possible, the best way possible,” Smith said, meeting with media on Tuesday. “It meant a lot to me, just finally being able to get out there after all the injuries I’ve been through.”
Even after Smith was cleared to return to the practice field, coming back from his ACL injury was not a smooth transition.
“I mean, just kinda getting back into football, so during camp, I had to kinda get back in football shape,” he explained. “I had been off for a long time, so just getting back to the feeling and confidence is probably the biggest thing. Trusting and being able to go out there.”
Thankfully for Smith, the process was not something that he did alone, being guided by his family and his faith in every step of the way.
“Just having the support system I had, the team supported me, my family back home supported me, and put in just my faith and the law, because I’m Muslim, just kind of think of his plan, whatever plan he got for me is just going to be the best plan moving forward.”
While Smith had plenty of work to do recovering his knee and overall health, there was a mental hurdle that came with the transition from West Virginia to Georgia. Smith currently plays STAR for the Bulldogs, but he played a similar position with several differences for the Mountaineers.
“At West Virginia, I played something called ‘Spear’. It’s totally different here,” Smith said. “Like, at West Virginia, I stayed to the field. Here, I travel to the passing strength, so I might be lined up into the boundary, I might stay to the field. So it’s definitely different in how we’re just used.”
A native of Philadelphia, Smith is far away from his family back home in Pennsylvania. He admitted that sometimes he struggles being away for such an extended period of time, and while it could be easy to be distracted or troubled by this, Smith uses his family, specifically his daughter, for motivation to work harder.
“My family means everything to me, and it’s definitely been hard,” Smith said. “I go by a saying kinda like, ‘sacrifice now, and live how you want to live in the future’. So, I’m kinda sacrificing now in order to take care of her in the future.”
As one of the few transfer players that Georgia has taken in under the Kirby Smart regime, many wondered if Smith would have a tough time meshing with some of the Bulldogs. Fortunately, this was not the case, as Smith connected with current Minnesota Vikings safety Lewis Cine and other members of the 2019 recruiting class, many of whom he went to camps with before college.
“Me and Lewis Cine clicked. Cine was kind of my guy, we still talk to this day.”
After Cine suffered a season-ending injury last Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, Smith reached out to Cine in order to reassure him.
“Yeah, actually, as soon as I heard about that, I texted him, made sure he kept his head straight,” Smith said. “If y’all know Lewis, he loves football. Like he’d probably be at the facility all night if he could.”
As for Smith, his focus is on the next opponent for Georgia, the Auburn Tigers. Even with Javon Bullard expected to be back this weekend for the Bulldogs, you can still count on seeing Smith out there in some capacity. Georgia and Auburn kickoff the 127th meeting of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry between the hedges of Sanford Stadium on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, airing on CBS.
