Fred Smoot was known for his showmanship on the field. That charisma hasn’t gone anywhere in his career away from football.

The former Mississippi State All-American — now a businessman and broadcaster — symbolized a new generation of “Primetime” (he did play with the real Primetime himself in Washington). He played with a swagger on an up-and-coming Mississippi State team that needed a player who knew how to win.

That was Smoot. He knew how to win, alright. But he didn’t learn that in Starkville, but rather about 140 miles southwest in Raymond, Mississippi.

“I was recruited heavily out of high school,” Smoot told Saturday Down South Monday. “I had a high ACT score, but my GPA was going to force me to have to sit out my first year. I wanted to continue to play football, and I knew Hinds Community College had been winning championships right down the street.

“I felt like that was the natural step for me to continue to play football, because I knew if I was going to get the best out of myself, I needed to be getting reps playing football.”

Smoot became the player we remember at the junior college powerhouse. He was one of the top players in the JUCO ranks, and played against several players who would move on to be household names in the SEC.

He was sought after by several SEC programs. Smoot admits he was almost off to Tuscaloosa to play for the Crimson Tide, but said it was Jackie Sherrill who sold him on Mississippi State.

Smoot packed up and made the two-and-a-half hour drive to Starkville to join the Bulldogs. He was going to be the guy for Sherrill’s program, a program that was on the rise in the SEC West.

“It was very fun,” Smoot said about suiting up in the maroon and white. “It was one of those situations for a guy that’s coming out of JUCO, you could establish yourself on the team. We had other JUCO guys and young five-star recruits, guys that needed a leader.”

From the time he stepped on campus, Smoot was told he needed to make plays, but he also needed to get young guys to believe. The first task came naturally to him. The second ended up working out well, also.

“I knew I had to lead by example, so I tried to work as hard as I could,” Smoot said. “I tried to show everybody how to have fun, but at the same time handle business. When I got those guys to relax, not think about the game and just have fun, we started to really win some games.”

His 1999 team started 8-0, and went to Alabama undefeated; something that was unheard of for Mississippi State football. That 8-0 start included a win over LSU, whom the Bulldogs hadn’t beaten since 1991. The Bulldog defense was tops in the SEC both years Smoot was on the roster.

He did the unthinkable; he got his group to believe.

Back down at Hinds — just west of Jackson — a few years earlier, Smoot recalls sitting in his dorm room watching SEC football and being captivated by this two-way player at Georgia named Champ Bailey. Smoot was determined to be the next Champ.

If he didn’t accomplish it, he came pretty darn close. Smoot was an All-SEC selection and All-American in both 1999 and 2000, and was drafted in the second round by the Washington Redskins. His new teammate? Champ Bailey.

When he walked into the meeting room for the first time as a Redskin, though, it wasn’t just Bailey who greeted him.

“Imagine this, I’m coming in this heavily-touted rookie, and I got Champ Bailey, Darrell Green and Deion Sanders in my meeting room,” Smoot said. “It was a great learning experience for me, especially from guys who play in a similar way than I do.

“There’s not many guys who can say they had a chance to play with three Hall of Fame corners, and I’m one of those guys.”

Smoot’s career had its share of off-field incidents. He was humiliated, but it’s in those situations that you’re forced to grow up. It’s a classic story; heralded college football player gets drafted, he’s suddenly a millionaire at 20-21-years old.

Seems like folk lore, doesn’t it? It happens, though, all too often. And it happened to Smoot.

He says he wouldn’t change anything. Those public downfalls have made him into the man he is today. He likens it to diamonds needing pressure.

Smoot’s interests are wide-ranging, but he commits to what he’s involved in.

Today, that’s as a businessman and broadcaster.

Smoot owns a Waffle House in the D.C., area, and is opening a flooring company in the next week. It’s the broadcasting, though, that has captured his attention. He loves it, but he also wants to be the best.

“Hopefully my mouth takes me as far as my legs did,” Smoot said, “to the top of the game. I’m willing to put in the work. Anybody will tell you in D.C., I’m probably the hardest working man when it comes to media.”

Each new career is a new challenge for Smoot. He embraces that.

Charity work is important to Smoot, as well. He was involved with a piece of federal legislation called the Fit Kids Act, requiring school districts to report on the health of its students, while also teaching nutrition and exercise. Another such venture is with Our House, a charity in the Beltway that cares for runaway and homeless kids.

He’s still involved with the Mississippi State program. He seems really passionate about getting that started up in Starkville; he says he’s seen that at programs like Miami, Florida State and Alabama.

“Any time you get a program that did so much for you, it was a stepping stone for me to live out my dream in the NFL, I want to give back,” Smoot said. “Sometimes it’s not about giving your money, sometimes it’s all about giving your time and sharing your knowledge.”

His speech gets quicker and more excited when you bring up Mississippi State football. What he loves most, he says, and what all great teams have in common is that there are all those “story guys,” as he refers to them. Guys who are football converts, such as De’Runnya Wilson, who played basketball or guys who were overlooked.

Smoot may have not been either of those things, but there’s no arguing where he falls among the SEC’s greatest. He hopes fans remember the show, the fun he had when on the gridiron.

Don’t worry Fred, when we think of the SEC’s Living Legends, No. 2 will always quickly come to mind.