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Akili Smith
refer to caption
Smith with the Calgary Stampeders in 2007
No. 11, 17
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1975-08-21) August 21, 1975 (age 50)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school: Lincoln (San Diego, California)
College: Oregon
NFL Draft: 1999 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
Career history
Career highlights and awards
  • Pac-10 Co-Offensive Player of the Year (1998)
  • First-team All-Pac-10 (1998)
Career NFL statistics
Passing attempts: 461
Passing completions: 215
Completion percentage: 46.6%
TD–INT: 5–13
Passing yards: 2,212
Passer rating: 52.8
Player stats at PFR

Akili Smith, born on August 21, 1975, is a former American football player. He played as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). The Cincinnati Bengals picked him third overall in the 1999 NFL draft. He was one of three quarterbacks chosen in the top three picks that year. Before playing professionally, he played college football for the Oregon Ducks.

Smith also played for other teams. These included the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Frankfurt Galaxy, and Calgary Stampeders.

Early Life and College Football Journey

Akili Smith was born in San Diego, California. His parents, Glorida Bryant and Ray Smith, gave him the name Kabisa Akili Maradufu Smith. In the Swahili language, "akili" means "mind."

Smith went to Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego. Famous football players like Marcus Allen and Terrell Davis also went there. Smith was named a Parade Magazine All-American. He planned to play at San Diego State University. However, his test scores meant he first attended Grossmont College. This is a junior college in the San Diego area. After two years, he transferred to the University of Oregon.

College Success at Oregon

Smith became well-known during his senior year at Oregon. He threw 32 touchdown passes in just 11 games. He led his conference in passing yards. He also led the entire NCAA in passing yards per attempt. Smith was named a second-team All-American. He also won the Pac-10 conference offensive player of the year award in 1998.

College Statistics

Season Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Yds Pct TD Int Att Yds TD
1997 108 200 1,385 54.0 13 7 89 183 2
1998 215 371 3,763 58.0 32 8 82 184 4
Total 323 571 5,148 56.6 45 15 171 367 6

Professional Football Career

Before the 1999 NFL draft, Akili Smith showed impressive athletic skills. He had also played two years of minor-league baseball. He ran a 40-yard dash in 4.66 seconds.

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Wonderlic
6 ft 2+3⁄4 in
(1.90 m)		 227 lb
(103 kg)		 32+1⁄4 in
(0.82 m)		 9+3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		 4.72 s 1.63 s 2.73 s 4.29 s 6.99 s 34 in
(0.86 m)		 9 ft 6 in
(2.90 m)		 26
All values from NFL combine

Time with the Cincinnati Bengals

In the 1999 NFL draft, five quarterbacks were chosen in the first round. Smith was the third player picked overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. Before the draft, the New Orleans Saints tried to trade for the Bengals' high draft pick. They wanted to draft Ricky Williams. The Saints offered nine draft picks, but the Bengals refused. They decided to stick with their plan to draft Smith.

Smith missed a lot of training camp in his first year, 1999. This was because of disagreements over his contract. On August 24, 1999, he signed a seven-year contract. It was worth up to $56 million, with a $10.8 million signing bonus.

Even though he was athletic, Smith struggled to fully understand the Bengals' playbook. He never became a consistent starter for the team. His offensive coordinator, Bob Bratkowski, said Smith "wasn't as diligent as he should have been." This meant he didn't study film and the playbook enough. During his four years with the Bengals, he started only 17 games. He threw just five touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. The Bengals released him on May 31, 2003.

Later Football Teams

In 2003, Smith tried out for the Green Bay Packers. He hoped to be a backup for Brett Favre. However, he was not successful and was later released. In 2005, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers released him. This happened after he played in NFL Europe. He started four games for the Frankfurt Galaxy there.

On April 28, 2007, Smith signed a two-year contract. This was with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He was expected to compete for the starting quarterback spot. He played well in a final exhibition game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He completed three touchdown passes in just one half of play.

NFL Career Statistics

Year Team GP Passing
Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg Lng TD Int Rtg Fum
1999 CIN 7 80 153 52.3 805 5.3 39 2 6 55.6 2
2000 CIN 12 118 267 44.2 1,253 4.7 46 3 6 52.9 10
2001 CIN 2 5 8 62.5 37 4.6 14 0 0 73.4 0
2002 CIN 1 12 33 36.4 117 3.6 24 0 1 34.5 1
Career 22 215 461 46.6 2,212 4.8 46 5 13 52.8 13

Life After Football

After retiring from playing football, Smith became a coach. He was the quarterbacks coach for Grossmont College. Smith was also a deacon at a church. He played football for a flag football team called "God's House."

In March 2010, Smith joined the coaching staff at the University of California. He worked as a graduate assistant with the offense. The head coach at Cal, Jeff Tedford, had coached Smith when he was at Oregon.

In 2012, Smith became the quarterbacks coach for St. Augustine High School in San Diego. Smith also planned to finish his college degree from the University of Oregon. As of September 2014, Smith was coaching football for The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California.

In June 2020, Smith was hired to the coaching staff at Maranatha High School in Pasadena, California.

Family Life

Akili Smith has a son named Akili Smith Jr.. His son is also a talented quarterback. He is expected to play college football at Oregon.

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