The football coach had a hankering for a hamburger. And so he left his office at the small Catholic high school, drove down the street to the nearest fast food emporium and, as he placed his order at the drive-through, thought only of how he would shed the sinful calories.
As he crept up to the pay window, he couldn't suspect the surprise that awaited.
Jaylon Smith, who was the best high school linebacker in America and had recently committed to play at Notre Dame, just smiled as he handed Kyle Lindsay his order.
"I was stunned," Lindsay recalled four years later.
But as he digested the experience, Lindsay realized he once again had witnessed "Jaylon being Jaylon." The high school kid, earning minimum wage, served up the burger with the same enthusiasm Lindsay had witnessed on the football field and in the coach's U.S. history classroom at Bishop Luers High.
"No matter where or when, Jaylon always had the same attitude, the same work ethic, the same smile," Lindsay said. "Here was a kid going into his senior year of high school with a full ride to one of the best colleges in the country working for minimum wage and happy to be doing it."
Pause.
"How many other great young athletes in America would be doing it with a smile on his face?" he asked. "I never really asked him why he did it."
Smith, who earned $7.25 an hour and used the money for gas and to offer partial payback to his mother for the privilege of attending a private school, embraced the experience.
"I wanted to do something out of the box," he said recently. "I wanted to experience what others went through. It was a blessing.
"And I loved making shakes."
Smith, destined to sign a $6.494 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys, indeed lived a blessed life back home in Fort Wayne, Ind. He was a star linebacker and running back at Class 2A Bishop Luers. He led the team to four consecutive state championships while never missing a single play because of injury.
He also worked tirelessly in the classroom, never hesitating to take advantage of early-morning tutorials to help boost his grades.
The only concession Smith made to his college future was leaving the basketball team after his senior football season. He wanted to spend more time in the football weight room. He wanted to work more hours at Burger King.
"And I didn't want to risk getting hurt," Smith said in a quiet room off the Cowboys' Valley Ranch locker room.
Life on the run
Life at Notre Dame, 90 miles from Fort Wayne in South Bend, Ind., was almost an instant replay of high school.
Smith was ordained a starter before the first game of his freshman season. He was a terror on the football field and a gentleman elsewhere on campus. He won the Butkus Award as the top college linebacker in the country, just as he had won the Butkus as the nation's top high school linebacker.
He was named captain for his junior season. After games, he signed autographs until the last fan went home happy. He majored in film and television because he wanted to learn about "the billion-dollar industry."
"I feel like the sky is the limit," he said. "My passion was to learn more about bringing light to people's world."
He was destined to hit the next level of life on the run.
And then early in his final college game -- the New Year's Day Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State -- Smith, whom Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly had proclaimed the best player he ever coached, tore the ligaments in his left knee and suffered horrific nerve damage. The only injury Smith ever suffered happened downfield, away from the ball.
So began Smith's journey to the Cowboys.
Dr. Dan Cooper, a Cowboys team physician, repaired the ligaments in Dallas less than one week after the injury. But the nerve has to regenerate and heal by itself.
Four days after surgery, Smith declared he would skip his senior season at Notre Dame and apply for the NFL draft. But he was no longer a sure thing.
Instead of being selected near the top of the draft as had been expected, Smith drifted down to the second round, where the Cowboys took him with the 34th overall pick. When, or if, he can play again has become a matter of public speculation.
Cooper has not commented since the draft. The Cowboys declined to make him available last week.
In the days leading up to the late April draft, Cooper had this to say three months post-op: "I'm not saying it's guaranteed [the nerve] is coming back. But if people are saying there's no chance ... they're wrong."
The 2016 season remains a question mark. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said he is hoping for a late-season unveiling of Smith, a 6-2, 245-pound pass-rushing missile and run stopper.
The rehabbing Smith attended the Cowboys' rookie minicamp last month and the last two weeks of offseason team activities, where he could be seen shadowing plays along the sidelines.
"I'm going great," Smith said, the trademark smile creeping across his face. "It's just a matter of time."
Different in good way
Sophia Woodson, Jaylon Smith's mother, said her second son always has been different from other children.
"He always has wanted to know what he had to do to be successful," she said. "We would be driving when he was around 9 years old, and he would see a nice car or a nice house and he would ask what he had to do to get a car or house like that, and I'd tell him, 'Work hard.' "
When the time came for high school, Smith told his mother the best place to "work hard" would be at a nearby Catholic high school rather than the public school attended by his older brother, Cowboys running back Rod Smith.
"I love their academics," Jaylon told his mother, who would have to pay for her son's privilege.
"How do you say no to that?" said Woodson, who ran a daycare to help make ends meet. "It wasn't easy, but we made it through."
The closest Jaylon ever came to getting in trouble with his mother was the time he and Rod traveled back from the barber shop on a moped against Woodson's wishes. While Rod denied they had disobeyed, Jaylon came clean.
He couldn't help himself. "I'm a mama's boy," he once told the Chicago Tribune.
Reams of stories have been written about Smith's high school years. Most recently, sportswriter Justin Kenny of Fort Wayne's News-Sentinal wrote:
"Unlike most athletes whose attitudes change as their popularity rises, Smith -- with his infectious smile and gracious manners -- has remained the same. Every time he visits his former high school, he makes it a point to find every teacher, every administrator, every single person who made a difference in his life. He does not carry himself with an ounce of self-righteousness. When Smith returns to Bishop Luers, people are genuinely excited to see him. And vice versa."
Soon after the Cowboys selected Smith, the team received an email from Notre Dame's director of football media relations. "You just selected the best player and person in the draft," he wrote.
Thirst for knowledge
Mike Ledo, Smith's mentor, runs a faith-based skills training organization in Fort Wayne called Athletes With Purpose.
He described Smith as "wise."
Ledo's website boasts that AWP has helped more than 100 athletes gain Division I college scholarships, including Tyler Eifert, an All-America tight end at Notre Dame and a Pro Bowl selection with the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I don't think anybody has the innate ability to be so teachable," Ledo said.
At Notre Dame, Smith camped in the defensive coordinator's office so he might learn where all 11 players belonged on every defense he called. That reminded Ledo of the times Smith would remain awake on long road trips to talk to his coaches about leadership rather than sleep along with his teammates.
"We'd go in a 15-person van, and Jaylon would sit in the second row, in the middle seat, to be part of our conversation," Ledo said.
Ledo has witnessed Smith working to rehabilitate his knee. He has watched as Smith created his post-injury "clear-eye view" mantra, which preaches "focused vision," "determined belief" and "earned dreams."
"I've been around a lot of educated people who have explained the knee situation to me," Ledo said. "There are no guarantees, but look at the percentages of those who come back. Jaylon is a freak athlete.
"Everybody wants him to heal in an unrealistic time frame," he said. "Jaylon will heal in the way he has always lived -- by his own will and determination. He will be back. But in his own time."
Twitter: @bhorn55
IN THE KNOW
Jaylon Smith
Ht., Wt.: 6-21/2, 245
Hometown: Fort Wayne, Ind.
Born: June 14, 1995 (age 20)
Parents: Sophia Woodson and Roger Smith.
High school: Played linebacker and running back on four consecutive state Class 2A championship teams at Bishop Luers. ... Three-time All-State first-team selection at linebacker. Rushed for 150 yards and scored three TDs in 2012 state championship game his senior season. ... Won 2012 Butkus Award as top linebacker in the nation. ... Indiana Mr. Football in 2012. ... Ranked seventh in nation on ESPN recruiting list, third by Rivals.com and Scout.com. ... Played basketball for three seasons. Was also a member of the track and field team as well as the bowling team.
College: Chose Notre Dame over Ohio State. ... Started all 39 games of his three-year college career. ... Finished with 293 tackles, 241/2 for loss,; 41/2 sacks; one interception; three forced fumbles; and three fumble recoveries. ... Won 2015 Butkus Award as top linebacker in the nation. ... 2012 Heisman Trophy runner-up Manti Te'o needed 39 games at Notre Dame to record an interception, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Smith accomplished the triple in his first eight games. ... Majored in film, television and theater.
Barry Horn
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