Friends in High Places: Harrison Smith, safety, Minnesota Vikings

By |  October 15, 2024 0 Comments

Harrison Smith, safety, Minnesota Vikings

The Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006, Harrison Smith has enjoyed a decorated football career.

Smith started 47 of his 51 games at Notre Dame. He was the team’s sole captain in 2011, an honor shared with only three other players over the last 40 years. Selected No. 29 overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2012 NFL Draft, he led all safeties in his rookie season with two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Smith is a six-time Pro Bowler, a two-time All-Pro selection and has 34 interceptions since entering the NFL in 2012.

“I love the challenge of (golf). Being a football player, it’s a different mindset — trying to work on different shots, make good decisions, don’t get too crazy. It’s a good way to test yourself.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when you get up to a green and there are about 50 ball marks that are not repaired. I’m always trying to fix as many ball marks as I can. Somebody hits a good drive, and you’re sitting in the middle of the fairway, sitting in a divot? I understand as the game grows and more people play, it gets harder and harder to keep everything pristine. But — respect the course, respect the player.

I play back home at Cherokee CC (Knoxville, Tenn.) It’s always pristine. That work doesn’t go unnoticed by me.”

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About the Author: Seth Jones

Seth Jones, a 25-year veteran of the golf industry media, is Editor-in-Chief of Golfdom magazine and Athletic Turf. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Jones began working for Golf Course Management in 1999 as an intern. In his professional career he has won numerous awards, including a Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) first place general feature writing award for his profile of World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman and a TOCA first place photography award for his work covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In his career, Jones has accumulated an impressive list of interviews, including such names as George H.W. Bush, Samuel L. Jackson, Lance Armstrong and Charles Barkley. Jones has also done in-depth interviews with such golfing luminaries as Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price and Lorena Ochoa, to name only a few. Jones is a member of both the Golf Writers Association of America and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association. Jones can be reached at sjones@northcoastmedia.net.


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