The award is presented to someone who “best exemplifies the inspirational and courageous play of Len Eshmont,” a former player of the franchise. Theismann, who never played for San Francisco, shared his take, and Smith took the chance to defend his quarterback.
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You can visit Smith’s Twitter timeline for the entire rant experience, accompanied by a few GIFs, but for the sake of clarity, his tweets have been compiled below.
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He signed for a few of the guys he knew and I asked him for an autograph and he looked me in the eyes and said NO. I get it if you gotta go or can’t do it at the time but at least say “sorry kid I can’t do it right now.” I wanted to box him. Now that I’m in the league I know that there is a time and a place for everything and you can’t get to everyone but he was just RUDE.
Then Sean Taylor came out. Me and my little bro were the only 2 kids there. I asked him for an autograph he said “hold on I’ll be back.” He came back, signed our book and talked with us for a few minutes. I’ll never forget it. That’s why I act the way I do towards fans. He didn’t have to do that. He could’ve just signed it and went on about his evening, but he didn’t. Made us feel special. I understand there is a time and a place for everything. He didn’t have to do that. Could’ve just left with his family, but he didn’t.
You will never be able to sign or take a pictures with everyone but there is a way to say no, and Theisman’s way was RUDE! Anyways that’s my story for the day. I have no beef with Theisman. He helped me with how I try to interact with fans.
While Smith may not have “beef” with Theisman, he clearly remembers the negative encounter from all those years ago.
