On Thursday, FanDuel Sports Network broadcast Kay Adams’ interview with the Kansas City Chiefs’ franchise-tagged right guard Trey Smith, who was in Chicago to shoot a State Farm commercial with Patrick Mahomes.
After being told that during Mahomes’ interview with Adams, Mahomes had called Smith “one of the best protectors in the business,” Smith beamed.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s something that I take a lot of pride in — and for him to say that means a lot to me. I lose sleep thinking about protecting Patrick. I know there are things I need to get better in my game to be the best protector that I can — and just be an asset for my team.”
Smith believes the team has acquired another player who can help protect Mahomes: the Chiefs’ first-round draft selection.
“I love his mentality and demeanor,” Smith said of former Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons. “Coming into it, I could tell he’s very talented in terms of his lower body and the capabilities that he has in terms of movement. And he’s a hard worker. [So] I love him already. I just want to take him under my wing and help him out in any aspect that he needs in his game. I’m just really looking forward to working with him.”
In the meantime, there’s the little matter of his own business with the team. Sometime before 3 p.m. Arrowhead Time on Tuesday, he and the Chiefs hope to have an agreement for a new long-term contract. But Smith — as he has done throughout the negotiation — volunteered little about it.
“I just leave it [in] the hands of my agents,” he explained, “and obviously, the front office staff of the Chiefs is elite. [So] at the end of the day, I just let them take care of it. I just have to focus on being the best version of myself, being the best football player and being prepared for training camp.”
But Smith doesn’t speak like a player who thinks he’s about to begin his final season in Kansas City.
“Our goal every season [is] the same objective and mission,” he reminded Adams. “The reason we go into that building is [to] hoist the Lombardi Trophy up at the end of the year. Obviously, we fell short of it last year — and you know it’s a bad taste in my mouth [because of] how we finished that season. But at the end of the day, we’re going to remain focused. We’re not looking too far ahead. We’ve got to take it one play, one rep at a time and see how it shakes out.”
Adams suggested that the team’s Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles could end up being a positive — because in sports, losses can be just as important as wins. Smith was happy to agree.
“I think you need losses in life to learn from [them],” he observed. “You need losses to create endurance. It helps build character from that as well. If you go and win, win, win, you don’t have any negativity that comes your way. You get used to it. You become complacent. I think that’s the beautiful thing about a loss. It taught us how much it hurt to lose, compared to how great it felt to win.”
Adams took it a step further, wondering if the loss might provide enough fuel “for the next three wins.” Once again, Smith agreed.
“I think it’s definitely going to be a reminder [of] that feeling we had at the end of the season,” he said, “and just hearing about it a lot in the offseason. It’s definitely going to fuel the fire that’s already within us — that we want to go get it done.”
