Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith accepts diminished role

PHOENIX – Hey, remember Malcolm Smith?

Had nine tackles and a fumble recovery in Super Bowl XLVIII? Ran back an interception 69 yards for a touchdown? Named the game’s most valuable player?

Whatever happened to that guy?

In the vortex of hype that is Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks linebacker is barely an afterthought – as he was during the tipping point of the regular season when the Seahawks surged to another NFC West title.

It’s a bit of a comedown from the attention showered upon him – to say nothing of the Chevy Silverado he was awarded – for his big-play display against the Denver Broncos a year ago.

“But my life really hasn’t changed,” Smith said. “I’m not richer. I’m no more handsome. Everything is the same.”

Well, yes – in the respect that the Seahawks are back in the Super Bowl.

But Smith had the opportunity to shine in last year’s game because he was starting in place of the injured K.J. Wright and because the Seahawks had put together a package featuring a lot of nickel defense. His MVP award was something of a process-of-elimination thing – Seattle being so dominant and so many individual Seahawks having major contributions. The timing of Smith’s pick was probably crucial – it made the score 22-0 at halftime, and thwarted a lengthy Denver drive that could have kept things close.

Now Smith is back to being mostly a special teams contributor. He did start five games earlier in the season when injuries sidelined Bruce Irvin and Bobby Wagner.

But when Wagner returned after the loss to Kansas City, linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. tightened his rotation – and, of course, the defense took stinginess to an unprecedented level. Smith went four games without getting a defensive snap.

“Those guys are pretty doggone good,” Norton said of Wagner, Irvin and K.J. Wright. “Hard to break into that group. Malcolm has shown he can play at that high level – he’s like my fourth starter. We just haven’t had as many injuries this year.

“To his credit, it hasn’t bothered him. He’s worked just as hard, and he’s committed himself to being a great special teams player.”

Hard to think a lot of Super Bowl MVPs would have embraced that role.

But then, the bulk of those award winners were already franchise players who continued to put together fine – and, in some cases, Hall of Fame – careers. Only nine played on the defensive side of the ball. One of them, Dallas cornerback Larry Brown, flamed out after parlaying his 1996 MVP award into a contract with the Oakland Raiders.

“But Larry Brown had been a starter,” Norton pointed out.

And Smith, as he himself pointed out “is a seventh-round draft pick.” Meaning it’s hardly an upset that he’s a super sub and not a star.

“He’s always been able to step right in and be productive,” Norton said. “If you don’t watch out, he might be the MVP again.”