For the first time since arriving on campus, Mississippi State wide receiver Jamayel Smith can concentrate solely on football. No longer does he have to wonder how college is going to be paid for, and more importantly, if there is a spot available for him on the Bulldogs’ roster.Smith, a junior from East Point, Ga., is playing his first season on full scholarship for the Bulldogs, an opportunity he says he wasn’t sure would ever come.
“It’s a blessing to finally be on scholarship,” Smith said. “I feel like I’ve been working hard and finally my hard work has paid off.”
Unlike some of the other receivers on State’s football roster, Smith got very little notice out of high school; in fact, he never got noticed. With no scholarship offers, he chose to spend a year at Hargrove Military Academy in Virginia in hopes of gaining some attention, but still no offers would come. Smith said not being sought after was hard for him because he knew if he was only given the chance, he could play football at the college level.
Smith got that chance when he decided to come to MSU.
Coming into the program, Croom didn’t have a spot for Smith but offered him a walk-on position.
It’s not that the coaching staff didn’t want Smith. Croom said the program needed wide receivers at the time but was under NCAA probation at the time from the prior administration that kept him from being able to sign Smith.
The probation, which ended last season, limited the number of scholarships the team could issue, forcing Smith to wait his turn.
Once Smith made it onto the squad, he was met with the harsh reality of exactly what the life of a walk-on player is like.
During the course of a week, walk-ons become human piñatas for starters in preparation for Saturday’s game.
Smith recalls one practice where former Mississippi State and current St. Louis Rams linebacker Quinton Culberson made it a point to personally welcome him to the family.
“He always told me he wanted to hit me,” Smith said with a laugh. “He said he wanted to hit me because I had never been hit…And yeah, he hit me.”
The life of a walk-on can be tough. Fellow walk-on-turned-scholarship player Lance Long can attest to that.
“It’s hard work being a walk-on. You feel like you have less chances to make it,” Long said. “Even though with Coach Croom everyone gets the same chance, as a walk-on you feel earning that spot is a little harder sometimes.”
That feeling of insecurity grew for Smith as he watched the coaching staff continue to bring in more players that fit its system.
So, he began to push himself to do extra things in hopes of getting noticed. It became a normal routine for Smith to be the last person to turn out the lights in the weight room and the first person to arrive for team meetings by at least 10 minutes.
“I didn’t care what I had to do, just as long as I made the team,” Smith said. “I had my mind set on playing football for Mississippi State.”
However, Smith’s new attitude was still barely enough to keep him on the roster.
Going into last season, he found himself the 105th man on State’s 105-man roster. But from there, things began to click. While Smith may have thought his hard work was in vain, one person began to take notice.
“Watching Jamayel in practice, I began to see him consistently catching passes,” Croom said. “He continued to catch your eye and you think, ‘Let’s give this guy a chance.'”
Smith got that chance last season against Georgia when he made his first career start. Then the following week against Kentucky is when Smith said he felt he earned his scholarship.
In that game, Smith caught six passes for 93 yards and one touchdown. His hard work had finally paid off.
Now a solid member of State’s receiving corps, Smith looks back and says he’s proud of the way he had to work his way up, but he also knows he has to maintain his consistency to keep his spot.
“By me working my way up, I know what other walk-ons go through and how they feel,” Smith said. “I know I can’t slack because there is somebody trying to take my spot, so that makes me work even harder.