In the past eight seasons – four with Alabama and four with the Philadelphia Eagles – wide receiver DeVonta Smith has reached five season-ending championship games. With the Crimson Tide, Smith played in the CFP title contests for the 2017, 2018 and 2020 seasons. With the Eagles, Smith played in Super Bowl LVII to cap the 2022 campaign and is preparing to play in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday.

“It’s been amazing, man,” Smith said during an appearance on “Takeoff with John Clark” for NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Just day in, day out, the work that I put in. Just thinking about all the times that things were really rough and just fighting through it, getting through the adversity that I’ve encountered and just being here. It’s a blessing.”

Smith caught one pass during the CFP national-championship game for the 2017 season, but it was a 41-yard touchdown reception to defeat Georgia 26-23 in overtime.

Smith had six receptions for 65 yards in Alabama’s 44-16 loss to Clemson in the CFP title game for the 2018 season.

Smith capped his Heisman Trophy season in 2020 with 12 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns in a 54-24 victory over Ohio State in the CFP finale as the Tide completed an unbeaten season.

In the NFL championship game two years ago, Smith had seven receptions for 100 yards in Philadelphia’s 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Alabama hasn’t played Clemson since the 2018 title game, but the Eagles will get a rematch with Kansas City in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

“That don’t do nothing for me,” Smith said about revenge during a Friday press conference. “You know, it’s the next team trying to stop us from getting to our end goal.”

Smith said it took “probably about two days” to get over the Eagles’ loss in Super Bowl LVII.

“Two days, and I was ‘Nothing you can do about it now,’” Smith said.

But he hasn’t forgotten the game.

“You think about it all the time,” Smith said, “especially planning it again, playing the same team. You think about it — what you did when you’re playing a familiar opponent, the things that they did in that game. Watching film, you go back and you watch the game. We played some of those guys, seeing what they were doing then, if they were doing anything different now.”

Experience in big games “definitely plays a big part” in his demeanor, but Smith said staying calm on the biggest football stages also “comes with your preparation. I think no matter how big or small the game is, if you prepare well, you’re going to succeed and do what you need to do.”

Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, the site for Super Bowl LIX, is about 70 miles from where Smith played football for Amite High School in Amite City, a town of about 4,000 people in Louisiana. The Warriors reached state-championship games in the Superdome twice during Smith’s prep days.

“It means a lot,” Smith said. “Just still setting an example for the kids back at home — you know, the way to go about things, the way to do things, just giving them a vision, giving them a dream to chase.”

Smith also doesn’t want to “make it bigger than what it is,” citing the Eagles’ game in New Orleans against the Saints on Sept. 22.

“Trying to control my emotions,” Smith said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I know we went down and played the Saints earlier. My emotions were kind of high, so just trying to control them a little better than I did then.”

Super Bowl LIX kicks off at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday. FOX will televise the game.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.