Missouri’s Aldon Smith is the gold standard By SAM MELLINGER The Kansas City Star
Gary Pinkel likes to say his football team has no great players, just a bunch of pretty good ones, and that sounds fine enough … except it’s just not true. Not anymore.
Missouri’s everyman mantra is about to hit its expiration date, as a program built around stars like Jeremy Maclin and Danario Alexander finds its next one on a defense that’s pushed the Tigers into national-title dreams.
His name is Aldon Smith, he’s from Raytown High, and the rest of the college football world is about to realize who he is.
He is the breakout star of Mizzou’s breakout season, with the personality for casual fans and the on-field talent to make him a multimillionaire as perhaps the best defensive end in his class.
An interception and 58-yard run against Oklahoma are just the beginning for a man absolutely ready for his national close-up — the Pinkel talk about not having any great players being buried under what are becoming known as Aldonisms.
“A sack feels like a kiss from a girl you like a lot,” he once said.
“It always feels good when you hear somebody feel the pain,” he said another time.
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