After four years with the Dallas Cowboys, running back Rod Smith hit free agency earlier this year and wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. However, it didn’t take him very long to land with a new team, ultimately signing with his former rivals, the New York Giants.
Now a few months into his Giants tenure, Smith has an opportunity to see what the organization is all about firsthand and to say he’s come away impressed would be an understatement.
“It’s cool. I’ve never been on the East Coast. I’ve been enjoying it for the most part. There’s a lot of good players out there, good coaches. It’s a first class organization,” Smith told Mark Lane of Texans Wire. “Really we’ve been out there competing trying to get out of that slump they’ve been having the past few years. Just trying to work and get back on top of things.”
One reason Smith opted to sign with the Giants was that he felt the organization respected his game.
“I feel like we were pretty familiar with each other. We had been playing against each other the past four years,” Smith said. “They respected the game. It was a lot of respect and seeing that I was a pro, a hard worker. It was kind of easy. Maybe I could come in and help the young running backs, Saquon, get some veterans around him to teach him a few things. So, that’s all I’ve been out there doing just trying to help out a little bit and still competing.”
Speaking of Saquon, Smith admits that playing alongside the reigning Rookie of the Year was a nice incentive and that he’s been impressed with the young back thus far.
“It’s dope. The kid, he’s a young kid, but he likes to work whether it’s in the weight room or in the study room. He really, really works and it’s good to see with a player so young because he’s the energy, he’s the engine of the team. So, to see him work like that only pushes everyone else,” Smith said.
Smith will enter training camp in a competition with Paul Perkins and Jonathan Hilliman for the No. 3 spot behind the aforementioned Barkley and Wayne Gallman.
