Justin Smith

Justin Smith (born September 30, 1979), nicknamed "the Cowboy", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Missouri Tigers, earning All-American honors. He was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the fourth overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. Smith also played for the San Francisco 49ers. Early years Smith was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. He attended Jefferson City High School, where he played high school football for the Jefferson City Jays. College career Smith played for the Missouri Tigers football team while majoring in general studies at the University of Missouri. In 1998, he became the first true freshman to start every game for Missouri since 1986 and was named Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, Smith set a new school sack record with eight and was named to first-team All-Big 12. In his junior season, Smith logged 11 sacks, 24 tackles-for-loss, and 97 total tackles. He broke his own sacks record that he set the previous year and set a new school record for tackles-for-loss. He earned first-team All-American honors from the Football Writers Association of America and garnered first-team All-Big 12 honors for the second year in a row. He entered the 2001 NFL Draft following his junior year. Professional career