One day, 7-year-old Nova Smith will understand.
Her father, Malcolm Smith, is part of a unique fraternity of NFL players as a Super Bowl MVP.
“My daughter is sitting here, and she has no idea,” Smith told FOX Sports. “She doesn’t get it. It’s incredible, especially for her, all my family and friends and all the people who voted when they had the chance.”
A part-time starter for the Seattle Seahawks‘ “Legion of Boom” defense during the 2013 season, Smith was thrust into more of a full-time role due to injuries at linebacker to K.J. Wright and Bruce Irvin.
Smith made the most of his opportunity in Super Bowl XLVIII with a 69-yard pick-six, a fumble recovery and nine combined tackles in Seattle’s runaway 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Smith went to Disney World after the Super Bowl and eventually parlayed his success in the big game into a full-time starting job for the Raiders.
Now out of the league, Smith is on track to graduate from The Wharton School MBA program in May. He already has a degree in economics from USC.
“I was super fortunate to take a seventh-round career to the mountaintop,” Smith said. “And I think some of the guys that I really admired playing over the years, they knew the value of education. I feel like that’s a great separator in life. And it’s just a way to continue to challenge myself and grow.”
Smith is part of a unique group of unlikely Super Bowl MVPs that includes Dexter Jackson, Ottis Andeson, Chuck Howley (the only Super Bowl MVP from a losing team), Desmond Howard and backup-quarterback-turned-starter Nick Foles. They were all long shots to win Super Bowl MVP, but they all showed up big when their names were called.
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A quarterback has won the Super Bowl MVP award in seven of the past 10 Super Bowls. In all, QBs have won the award 33 times, followed by receivers (8), running backs (7), linebackers (4) defensive linemen (3), safeties (2), cornerbacks (1) and kick returners (1). That return man was Howard, who won the award in Super Bowl XXXI after returning a kickoff 99 yards for a Packers touchdown.
For this year’s game, Patrick Mahomes is the favorite to win his fourth Super Bowl MVP, followed by Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, Travis Kelce, Xavier Worthy and A.J. Brown. Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones has the best odds of any defensive player at 65/1.
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According to FOX Sports Research, long shots who’ve won the MVP Award over the past 20 years include Julian Edelman and Von Miller at 25/1, Deion Branch and Anderson at 15/1 and Santonio Holmes at 12/1.
Smith wasn’t even listed on the odds board when he won in 2014.
“I think it was [Seahawks LB] Chris Clemons who said, ‘You’re going to be the MVP,'” Smith said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, right bro. No way.'”
Anderson traveled an even longer road to the mountaintop. Acquired by the New York Giants in a 1986 midseason trade, he went from being a star running back for the St. Louis Cardinals to a backup fullback for head coach Bill Parcells. Anderson had to learn a new offensive system and new position with his new team, toiling on the scout team. He remembers sitting high up in the stands during Super Bowl XXI media day and not one reporter coming up to talk to him.
“I remember looking down from inside the stadium watching all the press talk to everybody else,” he said. “A guy started to come talk to me, and halfway there he realized who I was. He just waved to me, turned back around and started to walk back down.
“I said that day, ‘I’m going to make them remember me for that.'”
As a first-round pick coming out of Miami in 1979, Anderson had predicted he would win the Super Bowl MVP if he ever played in the game in his home state. And his prediction became reality in Super Bowl XXV 12 years later at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Anderson, then 33, was the backup to rookie running back Rodney Hampton, a first-round pick that season, heading into the postseason. Not expecting to play much in the divisional round against the Chicago Bears, Anderson accidentally put on his practice pants. Hampton broke his leg early in the game, and Anderson rushed for 80 yards in New York’s 31-3 win.
Parcells implored Anderson to keep wearing the practice pants, even paying the fines Anderson incurred from the NFL for the uniform violation.
“That was a mistake that was heavily paid by Parcells every game I had them on, because the league fined me,” Anderson said. “Parcells, as superstitious as he was, said, ‘Keep them on.'”
Anderson still has his full uniform, including his practice pants, packed up in storage. In Super Bowl XXV, he ran for 102 yards and a touchdown in a 20-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills, the game in which Scott Norwood missed a potential game-winning 47-yard field goal wide right.
Anderson is one of only four running backs in NFL history to score rushing touchdowns in two Super Bowls and win MVP.
“I’m honored because I’m in a very unique club,” Anderson said. “I’m in a club that’s more exclusive than the Hall of Fame. And we’re going to always be exclusive, and we’re going to always be a part of Super Bowl Sundays.
“I will always be remembered by Giants fans, running down the field when I wind up and hit Mark Kelso. My imprint in the Super Bowl will never be forgotten, not only for that game, but because we had the greatest entertainer ever to sing the national anthem in Whitney Houston. So, her and I will forever be connected with Super Bowl 25.”
Smith said what makes his Super Bowl MVP performance even more special is his older brother, Steve Smith, being on hand at MetLife Stadium. Five years earlier, Malcolm watched Steve earn a Super Bowl ring in New York’s 17-14 victory over the New England Patriots in Glendale, Ariz.
“The NFL is always about the next man up,” Smith said. “It’s always going to be that in every single game. You never get over thinking about the fact that one guy got hurt, and that changed the entire complexion of the game. I think coaches and front offices really do appreciate the depth they have on a team. Because they know at some point it’s going to be critically important that they step up.”
And sometimes the player who steps up becomes the Super Bowl MVP.
“You’ve got to be lucky, dumb, special — all of those things rolled up into one,” Smith said.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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