History Shows Roquan Smith, Not Agents, is Prolonging Holdout

Many Chicago Bears fans are already tired of the Roquan Smith narrative. Their euphoria over his initial selection in the 2018 draft is rapidly wearing off. Some have called for the Bears to simply trade him, a possibility that ends today. While that was never too likely, it's clear this is becoming an unwelcome distraction for a team that's trying to claim its first winning season in over half a decade. So how did it ever get to this point? Well, some want to blame the agency representing Smith. They have a history of doing something like this with rookies as the Joey Bosa debacle showed two years ago. Others blame the Bears for being too cheap. They seem to be forgetting the common denominator in this entire mess:  Smith himself. He is the one person who can put an end to it all. So doesn't it stand to reason that he might, in fact, be the one who's prolonging it? New evidence suggests that people should've seen something like this coming a long time ago. Years before he was even on the NFL radars.

Roquan Smith proved years ago he would learn (and exploit) the business of football

Credit to Jack M Silverstein of Windy City Gridiron for uncovering a fascinating bit of history on Smith that goes back to the beginning of his college career. It involved an article by Patrick Hruby of Vice Sports that detailed how Smith intentionally didn't sign a national letter of intent when he declared for UCLA. He did this because he was warned it could ruin his bargaining leverage in case he changed his mind on which school he wanted to attend. Sure enough, he was swayed to head for Georgia instead. Had he signed that letter UCLA could've made it nearly impossible for him to make the switch because he would've had to forfeit a year of eligibility.

"On the morning of signing day, he reportedly woke up undecided between UCLA and Georgia; even after he picked the Bruins on national television, he remained uncertain. At a subsequent lunch with his parents and his high school coach, Larry Harold—who told Smith not to sign anything unless he was absolutely sure of his choice—he received a text message from Georgia coaches: Jeff Ulbrich, the UCLA assistant coach who had recruited Smith for three years, was leaving for the Atlanta Falcons. A few days later, Smith signed a financial aid agreement with Georgia. Not a letter of intent. He still had his signing day party, and still had his moment in the media sun. But in a system that asks athletes to take it, he chose instead to leave."

This revelation paints a pretty clear picture. Smith goes out of his way to understand the inner workings of the business end of football. The reason being a mentality similar to on the football field. Do whatever it takes to find an edge. He talked to people, learned what his options were and decided the course of action he felt offered him the biggest advantage.

Can't say it didn't work.

He switched over to Georgia, became an All-American and was the #8 overall pick in the NFL draft. Now he's doing the same thing at the pro level. He's talked to people who know the business, learned what his options are and is pursuing what he feels is the best course to his future. Love it or hate it, one must respect the man for sticking to his guns. It worked out once for him already, so there's no reason he should think it won't a second time. The good news is his end game is not to switch teams but to get concessions on his contract. This means he'll sign eventually, but when he's ready. Not anybody else.