Calling Team LJ's PR Spinning Expert

[SunMo]

TE Smith excels in kitchen, on football field


L.J. SMITH
Age: 25

Hometown: Highland Park

Ht./Wt.: 6-3, 258

Pos: TE

How acquired: Second-round pick (No. 61 overall) in 2003 draft

Sunday, September 11, 2005

By CELESTE E. WHITTAKER
Courier-Post Staff

MARLTON
L.J. Smith doesn't think he's all that interesting off the football field, but being an NFL tight end who can make a mean dish of tilapia or salmon is an item that's certainly worth noting.


Right now, Smith is in the process of trying to perfect a cheesecake recipe.


"I'm trying to make a good cheesecake right now, I'm trying to work that out," Smith said. "It comes out a little too mushy. I'm trying to perfect that.


"My main thing is seafood. I love salmon. I like tilapia. I can cook all that. I like mixing up the seasonings.


"I'm not the type of dude that has all these interesting things going on. I'm not playing an instrument. I'm not doing all this stuff. Cooking is kind of like my hobby. I tell people, in order to spice up my life outside of football, I cook."


You could say he hopes to get things cooking on the field this season.


The former Rutgers University standout is entering his third season with the Eagles, where he will start at tight end when they play the Atlanta Falcons in the season opener on Monday night (9 p.m./ABC).


While he loves catching touchdowns, this cooking thing is something Smith enjoys very much. A bachelor who resides in Cherry Hill, Smith feels that cooking is almost a necessity.


"Both of my grandmothers are from down south," said Smith, 25, who was at Champps Restaurant in Marlton on Thursday evening to tape his weekly show L.J. Confidential, which airs on Fridays at 7 and 10 p.m. on CN8. "My one grandmother's from West Virginia, my other grandmother's from Alabama, so I get all that soul food. When I was younger, I used to help my grandmothers cook a lot of times. Now that I'm on my own, I've got to cook."


There's another interesting fact about Smith. On the field, the Highland Park native won only seven games during his collegiate career at Rutgers, but he says it helped build character.


Smith felt a certain loyalty toward Rutgers because he was a non-qualifier academically, yet former Rutgers coach Terry Shea wasn't swayed by that. Smith was a Prop 48 player, meaning his first year at Rutgers, he was forced to concentrate on academics and couldn't play football.


"It's just that we didn't win, but I'm not bad-mouthing Rutgers at all," he said. "Now to come here and we actually win . . . Every week it's like "The Eagles should win.' It's a great feeling." Family influence


And his friends and family from back home aren't all that far away. He's still in touch with his high school coach, Joe Policastro, who said Smith worked at a football camp that he had this summer and would not accept a penny for coming.


"L.J is a very nice person," said Policastro, the head football coach at Highland Park High School. "He's from an excellent family. I coached all his uncles, Raymond, Tyrone, Terry and Shawn. Tyrone, he played at Ohio State. Shawn played for me and coaches with me. L.J. is from a family where they didn't tolerate any nonsense. He grew up where his uncles were almost like his brothers. They were very tough on him."


Smith's parents were divorced when he was 12, and while he remains close to his father John Smith, his mother, Kathy, is clearly his heart.


"She helped me do so many things," said Smith, who was taken in the second round of the 2003 draft by the Eagles. "She was always in my corner. We bumped heads a lot, growing up as a young man, but she was there for me, she's still there for me. She's my biggest supporter."


Kathy Smith wouldn't have it any other way.


"I wouldn't even call it sacrifice when I was driving him here, there," she said. "It was something that I wanted him to do since he wanted to do it. He was excellent in basketball as well as football. He enjoyed it, and I enjoyed watching him."


His mother and other family members taught him about hard work. Smith got his first job when he was 14 and worked a variety of jobs, even during his college years.


"I didn't have a lot of money growing up," Smith said. "I wanted things. I wanted sneakers. I wanted to shop for my own clothes. When you start getting your own money, then you can do what you want. My first job, I was 13, 14 years old. I was staining fences. I was washing cars.


"It helped me learn responsibility. I think all young kids should get jobs, learn the meaning of a dollar and learn responsibility." Choosing a sport


Smith's uncles as well as his high school coach encouraged him to concentrate more on football. Growing up, he had a love for basketball and was even recruited by several Division I schools.


"We thought he was a great athlete," Policastro said. "Terry Shea was at Rutgers. He said, "Joe, this kid is a pro athlete.' L.J. was a junior then. He really developed during his junior year. He was a basketball player. He loved basketball. His uncles and myself told him that instead of being a 6-foot-4 basketball player, he's better being a 6-4, 250 pound football player."


Now, he is the starting tight end for the Eagles.


And he cooks, too.

team LJ should probably start to spin this in a way that it's not super-ghey

[MURP]

cook off between Hollis, LJ, and Pattersons dad. 

[rjs246]

Team Smith feels no obligation to explain anything. But we will say this... cooking gets ass from the ladies, playing football gets ass from the ladies, being mind-bendingly stupid and yet physically gifted gets ass from the ladies. I think you see where I'm going here.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Patterson's dad cooks soul food.  He is teh winnAr.

[MURP]

that you get no ladies?

[rjs246]

that you get no ladies?

I merely speculate about LJ's reasons for doing the things he does. Truth be told he may be gayer than a gay dollar bill. Speculation is the awesomest.

[hbionic]

That T-Hawk rapes sheep?

[SunMo]

at least we know that Prop 48 is a smashing success

[Tomahawk]

That T-Hawk rapes sheep?

You can't rape the willing.

[Wingspan]

dude...cooking is the anti-gay

nothing gets women all mushy in the nether region than a guy that can cook.

[Rome]

that you get no ladies?

Ha.

[SunMo]

dude...cooking is the anti-gay

nothing gets women all mushy in the nether region than a guy that can cook.

you must have a lot of cute recipies, huh mary?

[PhillyGirl]

I love it when a man cooks for me.

[MURP]

 

[PhillyGirl]

Would you like me to announce to the board that you cook for me sometimes? I was trying to keep it quiet.