USC football countdown to kickoff—Cameron Smith in focus
Position: Linebacker
Years played at USC: 2015-2018
Career highlights: As a true freshman in 2015, Smith burst onto the scene with a three-interception game against Utah, one of which he returned for a pick six. Funnily enough, however, those would be the only three interceptions Smith would record in his entire USC career. Despite this, he still had an exceptional tenure in Cardinal and Gold, finishing his time with the Trojans with 353 total tackles, 11 passes defended, and 3.5 sacks.
Smith earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2017 and second-team honors in both 2016 and 2018. In both his junior and seniors seasons, he was named a team captain.
After USC: The Minnesota Vikings selected Smith in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he appeared in five regular season games, recording eight total tackles. During the summer of 2020, however, it was announced that Smith would need to undergo open heart surgery, causing him to miss the entire season. He medically retired from football the following year.
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