Looking through the Deseret News I found this article worth posting here. It's a great read and reminds us that there is much more to life than football. It's the story Utah WR/RB Shaky Smithson and his escape from the rough neighborhoods of Baltimore, all-the-while having custody of his 15 year old brother. For a 22 year old full-time student athlete, life stays pretty busy and hard to handle. Add taking care of a 15 year old high school student as well and that's a tall task for anyone. Here is the intro to the story with a link to the full article beneath:"Growing up in one of Baltimore's roughest neighborhoods, Antoine "Shaky" Smithson wanted only to avoid it and then to escape it. He spent his youth lying low, seeking refuge in the safety of the gym or his own living room. When he was finally able to put the city in his rearview mirror, he went to Los Angeles first and then the University of Utah.
It was as if Shaky couldn't put enough distance between himself and the old neighborhood. The drugs and violence and pointlessness of the street life. His father's lost job and incarceration. His parents' split. A lost year of school. The months of helping care for siblings in his father's absence.
So here he is, sitting in his apartment in the foothills above Salt Lake City, of all places, and it's as if he has landed on another planet. He can walk outside and not feel threatened. There are no gangs hanging out on street corners, no one offering drugs or menacing violence. He has broken the hold that the old neighborhood has on so many like him." - Doug Robinson, Deseret News
A good life: Ute football player shares good fortune with family
Photos: Michael Brandy, Deseret News
