“The NFL handed down a three-week suspension, two preseason games and one regular season game,” Smith told KRIV-TV in Houston. “My plan is, like anybody who gets in this situation, is to appeal it because that gives you the opportunity to state your case, and to talk to the NFL and give them an opportunity to hear what you have to say.”
“… In general, I feel disappointed, disappointed in myself that I was able to let him get to me in the way that he did that frustrated me, when knowing that that’s his whole game, that’s what he bases his skill level off of, and I let him take me down a road that led me into that path.”
The suspension was handed down to Smith after he snatched Dolphins guard Richie Incognito’s helmet off his head and swung it, nearly hitting him in the head. Smith insisted that Incognito threw the first blow, and he just reacted out of anger.
“It was a deliberate punch to my face,” Smith said. “You see how far my head went back. It was a deliberate grab of my face mask, the twisting and the jerking of it and then one last punch at the end.”
“Initially I was full of frustration,” Smith said. “I swung the helmet, but I didn’t swing the helmet to hit Richie Incognito. If I was going to swing the helmet to hit Richie Incognito, it wouldn’t have been hard. He’s right there close. You can see how low the helmet was and how tight I brought it to my body.”
Smith plans to appeal his suspension. More details to come.
