Detroit Lions cornerback Alphonso Smith didn't have much to be thankful for following a 45-24 Thanksgiving Day beatdown at the hands of the New England Patriots. But Smith now sees it as a lesson learned.
Smith, then in his second NFL season, offered a little early trash talk to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady that day, he told the Detroit Free Press this week. And the results weren't favorable for Smith.
"You've got to make sure who you pick a gunfight with," Smith said Thursday, two days before a preseason rematch in Detroit. "Tom Brady and (Bill) Belichick is not the guys that you should pick a gunfight with, especially being in your second year in this league, which means you know nothing.
"I was one of those young guys that didn't know anything. Chose to get in a gunfight with John Wayne and some other famous old Western guy."
Smith was run over on two occasions, once at the end of a touchdown run by BenJarvus Green-Ellis and again by Wes Welker on a 5-yard TD catch. Smith also was beaten several times on the same play by Deion Branch for a 79-yard touchdown reception.
The day that started with a few words for Brady ended with Smith on the bench. Brady ended the game with a perfect 158.3 rating, completing 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns.
"He just looked at me," Smith recalled after he told the Patriots' star quarterback he had something for him. "I shouldn't have said it, but I did."
