IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- Naeem Smith, a former All-American at Ellsworth who recently finished his career at Rice University, was named to three All-Conference teams and earned an invitation to a college football all-star game.  Smith will take part in the Spiral Tropical Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on January 15, a college football game and showcase for Division I standouts.  Earlier, Smith, a safety for the Rice Owls, was named a 2nd team All-Conference USA player by ProFootball Network, 4th team by Phil Steele and Honorable Mention by the league's coaches.

A starter at either free or strong safety as a senior last fall, Smith's 4 interceptions were 2nd in the conference and he had 65 tackles.  He was a co-captain for Rice and earned academic honors, as he did at Ellsworth.

In limited action in 2020, the Iowa City High School graduate had a pick-six.  Smith arrived at the Houston school prior to the 2019 campaign after graduating from ECC and took over as a starter in the defensive backfield his 2nd game and started the rest of his career there.  He was a Sport Management major.

Smith totaled 135 tackles in two seasons as an Ellsworth Panther and after his sophomore season was selected as an Honorable Mention All-American and also made the All-Conference and All-Region lists.  As a soph, he had 61 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 4 pass break-ups, blocked 2 kicks and forced a fumble.  Smith was credited with 74 tackles and had 3 interceptions as a freshman in 2018.

Scouts from 30 NFL and CFL teams were reportedly in attendance at last year's Tropical Bowl in Orlando.