Where did "He Hate Me" go?
That is suddenly a very serious question, as the Lancaster County (S.C.) Sheriff's Office has issued a missing persons advisory for Torrold "Rod" Smart, who played for the Carolina Panthers in the early 2000s and was known widely in the football universe as "He Hate Me."
Smart, 42, was last seen six days ago at about 10:30 a.m. in Indian Land, S.C., about 20 miles south of Charlotte, N.C. A release issued by the sheriff's office called Smart a "missing endangered person."
"Mr. Smart is driving his silver 2016 Nissan Maxima with NC tag PJR1759," the release read. "It is unusual for him to be out of touch for this long. Mr. Smart's family is worried about his safety and well-being."
Anyone with information is asked to call the police at (803) 283-3388.
Smart was a popular figure for the Panthers, especially during the 2003 season that led to the team's first Super Bowl appearance.
"This is shocking news and I just hope Rod is OK," Al Wallace, a teammate of Smart's with the Panthers, said in an interview Tuesday.
"Rod has always been one of the biggest personalities in any room he enters. He's hilarious and full of energy, and as a player he was blazing fast. He was one of the few guys who could break Coach (John) Fox down, literally in tears of laughter, with the things he would do and say. When I think of that Super Bowl team, he's still one of the guys that stands out to me."
While playing in the short-lived XFL in 2001, Smart had the words "He Hate Me" plastered on the back of his jersey instead of his surname. He was that league's second-leading rusher that year, so he became one of the XFL's stars.
This memorable moniker was Smart's own invention, making fun of the lack of respect he said he got.
I asked him once how he came up with it and he laughed and said: "I'm a genius."
The "He" in question could apply to anyone _ a coach who wouldn't play him, a personnel man who wouldn't draft him or a tackler who couldn't catch him.
As Smart told us reporters once: "Football is very political at the pro level. And because I came in (to every training camp he went to) as the last back, if I didn't get a carry, I'd talk to the other running backs and say, 'He hate me, man. This coach hate me.' I was always saying that."
In fact, no one in the Panthers locker room really hated Smart. When he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against New Orleans in 2003, the Panthers' play-by-play man at the time, Bill Rosinski, ended his call of the touchdown with: "He Hate Me? We love you!" ESPN loved that, and played the call and the highlight again and again.
Wallace kept in occasional touch with Smart over the past decade and said he had seen him not too long ago at a Charlotte Hornets game. Wallace also said Smart had long pursued a goal of becoming an actor.
"He wanted to take that personality and that smile to Hollywood," Wallace said. "That was a dream of his. For a long time, he was on the audition trail." Smart's biography on the internet movie database shows a single listing outside of his appearances related to football, in a 2010 movie called "Don't Blame the Lettuce."
Smart, who played collegiately at Western Kentucky, ended up spending four seasons with Carolina from 2002-2005. That 100-yard TD in 2003 was the only one he scored in the NFL; he was mostly used as a special-teams player.
But his nickname _ likely the best in Panthers history _ helped ensure that even today at Panthers' games you occasionally see Smart's old No. 32 jersey being worn by fans.
There still are people who love Smart, obviously, just like so many did during that Super Bowl season in 2003. And they are worried about him.
And whatever the circumstances are, they just want him to come home.
