Smoker becomes latest QB to battle substance abuse
In 1995, Acclaim released the video game “NFL Quarterback Club.”
The game featured the league’s top quarterbacks. Clean-cut guys like John Elway, Jim Kelly and Boomer Esiason.
On Sunday, Jeff Smoker joined another Quarterback Club. This group includes guys like Cory Paus, Steve Bellisari and Todd Marinovich. Guys with rap sheets and substance-abuse problems.
Smoker, Michigan State’s junior quarterback, revealed through his family that he, too, has a substance-abuse problem. While such problems aren’t exclusive to quarterbacks, Smoker’s the latest signal-caller to come clean.
“Jeff has been fighting this battle alone for some time,” Smoker’s family said in a release.
Smoker has checked into an unknown rehabilitation center, Michigan State Board of Trustees Chairman Donald Nugent told the Detroit Free Press.
“He got into a big school, off on his own, tried some stuff that he shouldn’t have tried,” Nugent told the Free Press, “and the rest is history.”
Michigan State has denied a rumor that Smoker partied so hard before the Spartans’ Oct. 12 game at Iowa that he missed the team flight and the university sent another plane to fly him to Iowa City, Iowa.
If true, that story wouldn’t be the most outlandish from this dubious Quarterback Club.
Consider Cory Paus, UCLA’s senior quarterback who’s out for the season with a broken leg.
Earlier this year, he served two jail stints, one in January for DUI, the other during Spring Break for violating his probation on that conviction.
Paus lost his driver’s license, quit drinking and joined Alcoholics Anonymous.
Halfway across the country, former Ohio State quarterback Steve Bellisari had similar problems.
Last November, he pleaded no contest to a drunken-driving charge. He served three days in jail but not before playing in January’s Outback Bowl.
It doesn’t stop there.
Kerry Collins, the current New York Giants signal-caller, battled alcohol problems while quarterbacking the Carolina Panthers.
Remember Todd Marinovich, who played two years under center with the Oakland Raiders in the early 1990s before succumbing to drugs?
Brett Favre had perhaps the most chronicled substance-abuse problem among quarterbacks. Favre, the Green Bay Packers’ former NFL MVP, once took 13 painkiller pills during an awards dinner, according to a May 1996 Sports Illustrated story.
That February, Favre had a seizure because of his addiction, after which his 7-year-old daughter feared for her father’s life, the magazine reported. The quarterback later admitted his addiction to painkillers.
Each of these disturbing cases raises the question: What drives these high-profile athletes to seek comfort in booze and drugs?
Pressure? Pain?
Smoker’s case is especially troubling since colleges are supposed to watch out for their athletes. Coaches are entrusted with players’ lives.
Perhaps coincidentally, the day after Smoker’s family announced the quarterback’s problem, Michigan State fired head football coach Bobby Williams.
It was the right move.
Perhaps Williams didn’t see Smoker’s demise, but he should have.
And maybe Smoker’s Quarterback Club isn’t as visible the Elway-Kelly-Esiason group. But to sober up college football’s backfields, it should be.
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No. 8 Virginia Tech (-13.5) at SyracuseSaturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
A win over the Hokies would make the Orangemen’s season. But Virginia Tech comes to the Carrier Dome looking for revenge after a 22-14 SU win last year in Blacksburg, Va.
Virginia Tech (8-1, 3-1 Big East) will be without running back Kevin Jones, who pulled his left hamstring in a 28-21 home loss to Pittsburgh last Saturday.
But Syracuse (3-6, 1-3) allows 30 points a game to Tech’s 12. That’ll be the difference.
Pick: Virginia Tech 42, Syracuse 10
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No. 14 N.C. State (+6.5) at MarylandSaturday, Noon, ABC
After a 1-2 start, the Terrapins are looking more like the team that won the ACC title last year for the first time in 16 years.
Maryland’s won six straight, while the Wolfpack lost its first game of the season last week, 24-17, to Georgia Tech.
N.C. State has two dangerous offensive weapons — quarterback Philip Rivers, who became the school’s all-time completion leader last week, and running back T.A. McLendon, who set an ACC freshman record against Georgia Tech with his 15th touchdown.
Maryland’s been without star running back Bruce Perry all season.
The Terps’ streak stops here.
Pick: N.C. State 24, Maryland 21
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No. 2 Miami (-8.5) at TennesseeSaturday, 3:30 p.m., CBS
The Hurricanes survived a near-upset last week at Rutgers. The Vols, meanwhile, halted a two-game losing streak with a 18-10 win at South Carolina.
With Tennessee mired in a disappointing 5-3 season, Web sites calling for coach Phillip Fulmer’s head are popping up.
Perhaps Miami fans will fashion a similar site calling for the axing of the Bowl Championship Series. Despite being 8-0, the ‘Canes dropped to third in the most recent BCS rankings.
Pick: Miami 38, Tennessee 7
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No. 21 Iowa State (+12.5) at No. 12 Kansas StateSaturday, 7 p.m., TBS
The Wildcats need a win to even have a remote shot at the Big 12 title.
They’ll have history on their side against the Cyclones. Kansas State hasn’t lost to Iowa State since 1993.
The Cyclones, who knocked off Iowa and Nebraska earlier this season, stopped their two-game losing streak last weekend with a 42-35 win over Missouri.
Though Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace is one of the nation’s best players , the Wildcats’ defense yields just 12 points per game.
Pick: Kansas State 21, Iowa State 10
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No. 15 Oregon (+5.5) at No. 5 Washington StateSaturday, 3:30 p.m., ABC
Early last week, Washington State linebacker Ira Davis was suspended for getting into a fight and breaking the cheekbone of starting cornerback Jason David.
The Cougars rebounded with a 44-22 drubbing of Arizona State. But this week’s showdown against the 7-2 Ducks won’t be as easy.
Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser should feast on the Oregon secondary, which allowed 984 passing yards in a two-game span last month.
Pick: Washington State 48, Oregon 27
Published on November 6, 2002 at 12:00 pm