Kabisa Akili Maradufu Smith (born August 21, 1975 in San Diego, California) was the third overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft after Tim Couch and Donovan McNabb. Despite the initial hype surrounding his success as the quarterback at the University of Oregon, he did not fit in with The Cincinnati Bengals, and played only two games in 2001 and was cut in 2002. He currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

College success

Smith rocketed to the foreground of draft discussions because of his stellar performance in his senior year at Oregon, throwing 32 touchdown passes.

NFL Career

Draft

At the 1999 NFL Draft, Smith faced stiff competition from other rising quarterbacks. In a year when five quarterbacks would be drafted in the first round, including the aforementioned Couch and McNabb, Smith would end up beating out another fledgeling quarterback, Daunte Culpepper, for the third spot. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincinnati Bengals

Smith missed large periods of 1999 pre-season training with the Bengals due to contract disputes; it would later be speculated that his absence from this short training period hurt him immensely in the seasons to come. Despite incredible shows of athleticism in his early games, he failed to grasp the Bengals playbook fully, and never established himself with the team. Throughout the four years he was with the Bengals, he would only start in 17 games, eventually being cut entirely in the 2002 season.

Green Bay Packers

In 2003, Smith tried out as Brett Favre's backup, but again failed to mesh with the team.

External link

• Akili Smith Misses Cut as Favre's Backup from ESPN (August 26, 2003)