After his incredible November, RB Clifton Smith is ranked first in the NFL in kickoff return average and second in punt return average
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Another Score for Smith
Dec 04, 2008 - Since he was promoted from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad on October 25, Clifton Smith has spent just over one month as a full-fledged NFL player.
And what a month it has been!
On Wednesday, the NFL named Smith the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November. He is the first Buccaneer to win a Player of the Month award since kicker Matt Bryant took the same honor last December.
Though Buccaneer rookies have won Player of the Month awards in the past – wide receiver Karl Williams in 1996 and kicker Martin Gramatica in 1999 – none had ever before done so in their first month of action. What Smith accomplished in Tampa Bay's four games in November, however, simply couldn't be ignored.
In fact, the undrafted free agent out of Fresno State has made a habit of blazing new trails for the Buccaneers.
In Kansas City on November 2, in just his second NFL game, Smith scampered 97 yards for a touchdown on a second quarter kickoff, the longest kickoff return in franchise history and only the second one to reach pay dirt. With 232 yards on six kickoff returns and 27 yards on two punt returns against the Chiefs, Smith set a new single-game Buccaneer standard with 259 combined return yards.
Smith's 97-yarder just before halftime at Arrowhead Stadium also sparked a thrilling rally as, down 24-3, the Bucs stormed back for a 30-27 overtime win, marking the biggest comeback in team history.
Just two weeks later, Smith was part of another enormous rally, as Tampa Bay came back from a 17-0 first-quarter deficit in Detroit to win 38-20. Smith's 70-yard punt return for a touchdown was the fourth of five unanswered touchdowns by the Buccaneers, helping break open a close game in the third quarter. Smith had also ignited the rally, just as he did in K.C., with a 49-yard kickoff return to midfield at the end of the first quarter that set up the Bucs' first touchdown drive.
Simply put, Smith has been a winning edge for the Buccaneers since they promoted him, and promptly posted their first four-win November since 1999.
“He’s the real deal," said Head Coach Jon Gruden. "It has been a long time, for Tampa Bay fans, since we have been able to return kicks and punts like we’re doing now. I said it a couple weeks ago: ‘Clifton Smith, get a ticket if you want to see him play. He’s something else.’ He is really helping us.”
Even in those two games in November in which he did not score a touchdown, Smith was still an enormous factor for the Buccaneers. Last Sunday in an extremely tight game against New Orleans, Smith somehow turned a monstrous 70-yard punt that went over his head into a positive, catching the kick on one bounce and taking it 42 yards back into Saints territory. The Bucs promptly kicked a field goal and took a 6-3 second-quarter lead.
In all, in the four games in November, Smith returned 16 kickoffs for 498 yards, averaging 31.1 yards each, and ran back 11 punts for 199 yards, a pace of 18.1 yards per return. Though it was not included in the selection process for Player of the Month, Smith also had five punt returns for 82 yards and three kickoff returns for 62 yards in his NFL debut at Dallas on October 26.
With the Dallas game included, Smith currently has a return average of 29.5 yards on kickoffs and 17.6 yards on punts. Those numbers are good enough to rank him first in the NFL in the former category and second to Reggie Bush (17.9) in the latter.
So, yes it's been a good month.
Smith is just the ninth player in team history to earn a Player of the Month award; those nine have combined for 14 such designations, as Gramatica has been honored three times and Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and Simeon Rice have all won twice. Smith's award is the seventh for the team in the special teams categories; Buccaneers have also won seven defensive honors but, as of yet, none on offense.