Would DeVonta Smith trade his Alabama national titles for a Super Bowl victory?
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith played on two CFP national-championship teams at Alabama. He’s also been to the Super Bowl, but the Eagles lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 in the NFL championship game for the 2022 season.
Back to face Kansas City again in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, Smith was asked, if he could, would he trade his two Crimson Tide national championships for a victory over the Chiefs.
“Why I got to give up my national championships to take them down?” Smith said at Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday. “I don’t have to do that. I can just go out here and just do it and keep both of them.”
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Smith played pivotal parts in both of Alabama’s national-championship victories.
As a freshman, Smith entered the CFP title game for the 2017 season with seven receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He caught one pass in the championship game, but it was a 41-yard touchdown toss by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in overtime that beat Georgia 26-23.
Smith capped the 2020 season, when he won the Heisman Trophy, with 12 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of Alabama’s 52-24 victory over Ohio State in the CFP national-championship game.
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The Eagles reunited Smith with quarterback Jalen Hurts when they selected the wide receiver at No. 10 in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Smith and Hurts were teammates at Alabama in the 2017 and 2018 season, and Smith had 12 receptions for 213 yards and one touchdown on passes thrown by Hurts with the Crimson Tide.
“I think it’s just the mental part of it,” Smith said on Monday night when asked how Hurts had evolved since they were Tide teammates. “He’s constantly growing. He’s constantly being able to do a lot more. Like, every week he takes a step forward, like making protection calls and things like that, making sure us as receivers are going out there and doing the right thing.”
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The Eagles and Chiefs will square off in Super Bowl LIX at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. 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.