Damon J. Smith

Damon J. Smith is an American athlete, author, entrepreneur, and radio personality. He is the first professional football player to race professional motocross.

Early years

At Fairfield High School in Fairfield, California, Smith was a three-sport star, playing basketball, football and track. He competed in California's state track meet in the triple jump and high-jump and earned all-Monticello Empire League honors.

College years

At Utah State University, Smith started 44 straight games at defensive back. He set the record for interceptions that year, finishing his career second all time on Utah State's Interceptions list with 17 interceptions.

Former Utah State University Coach, DeWayne Walker, stated, “Damon was fast, a great jumper, [and] he had all the intangibles. He did everything right, that's what I loved about him. He's that rare type of individual that can decide [he wants to do something] and he has the intellect and drive to accomplish whatever he wants.”

Professional career

Football

After graduating from Utah State with a degree in MIS with a Computer Science emphasis, Smith was recruited to play for the Calgary Stampeders as a defensive back. While in Calgary, Smith was praised by secondary coach Frank Spaziani, stating he "worked hard" and was "a bulldog." He trained and played alongside other notable athletes such as Doug Flutie, Jay McNeil, Travis Moore, Marvin Coleman, Mike Neu, and was coached by Wally Buono. During the ninth game of his rookie season, while replacing injured defensive back Kenton Leonard, he tore a medial collateral ligament in his right knee. His injury prompted concern for what the Stampeders would do for defensive backs, as the injury appeared severe enough to end his season. The injury did end his first year with the Stampeders, and Smith returned to California to rehabilitate and prepare for other opportunities. Although he rehabilitated quickly, Smith found himself without a contract. Over the next year, he trained alongside elite athletes before moving on to endeavors outside of athletics.

Business and media

Smith put his college degree to work by joining the engineering team at Intel Corporation. He established a publishing company, Inspiring Minds Publications, authored and published a sports motivation book titled, “Don't Stop the Swagger: Preparing the Mind, Body & Soul for Peak Performance.”

After publishing the book, he frequently delivered messages as a motivational speaker to collegiate and youth organizations, traveling as far as Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to speak to young men at a community center in one of the city's many large and dangerous slums. During that trip, Smith met a young man who had been rescued from the streets of Belo Horizonte by the international Christian organization, Youth With a Mission (YWAM). The young man, Sidney, connected with Smith after reading his book, and inspired Smith to shoot a documentary about him and other kids who had been helped by YWAM. He stayed in touch with Sidney as the young man graduated from high school and joined an international mission team, and eventually published his life story under Inspiring Minds Publications. Proceeds from the book, “Rescued to Tell: Diary of a Street Kid,” helped the young man travel on missions throughout South America and Africa.

Smith was recognized in 2006 by Essence Magazine as one of 50 “Do-Right-Men.”

Throughout his travels and speaking engagements, Smith started a talk radio show on Sacramento/Bay Area radio station, KFIA 710AM. “The Athlete's Show” discussed socially oriented issues from an athlete's perspective. The show aired weekly in 2007, and he interviewed professional athletes such as former Oakland Raider Jerone Davison, former Redskin/49er Rod Moore, former Toronto Blue Jay Kevin Bracey, as well as his former coach and then UCLA Bruins Defensive Coordinator DeWayne Walker. In 2008, he returned to the airwaves, expanding the format and changing the name to “The Damon J. Smith Show.” The show explored controversial issues pertaining to religion and politics and covered the 2008 presidential elections.

Motocross

In 2005, Smith returned to the world of sport, only this time pursuing his lifelong passion for racing motocross. Although he had experience with BMX in his youth, he had never before raced a motorcycle. After training for a year, he began racing in 2006, and by his second year of racing, Smith advanced from to the competitive intermediate level. He began pursuing national level races, qualifying and competing in the 2008 Loretta Lynn's National Motocross Championships. The following year he qualified and competed in the World Amateur Arena Cross Finals held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, in which the top five riders from each class from the four Arena Cross Series regions (East, West, Midwest and Central) raced for the championship title. By the end of his third year of racing, he attempted to pass the rigorous qualification process required to advance to the pro level, competing against hundreds of other would-be pro racers for the 75 pro qualification points required to officially earn the "Pro" title. Over the course of three months he traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico; Salt Lake City, Utah; Reno, Nevada; Boise, Idaho and Spokane, Washington in an effort to earn his American Motorcycle Association (AMA) points and Professional License.

By the end of May, Smith had amassed the required points and earned his professional license. Officially an AMA Pro in 2009, he competed in 1 event in Washougal, Washington, and in 2010, he competed in 4 AMA Supercross Lites events.

In 2011, Smith returned to AMA Supercross, sponsored by Godsome Apparel, Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff Motorcycle Lawyers, MB1 and Works Connection where his performance in the last qualifying practice at Phoenix made the Motocross Action Magazine Mid-Week Report. His participation in three 2011 Supercross events generated some criticism, prompting motocross journalist Jared Bolton to publish an in-depth interview with Smith on his blog.