XFL's boldest name in NFL's biggest game
So while you're enjoying Rod Smart's moment of triumph, remember that it is also Vince McMahon's biggest blunder brought home to roost. You didn't watch it when it was happening, but you're catching it now. So try to keep that smirk off your face, at least until the end of the National Anthem.
- Ray Ratto
Regardless of whether the Carolina Panther's win today's Super Bowl, I doubt that anyone will be having more fun than Rod Smart. Who, you say? Well, you might know him better as "He Hate Me", one of the few good things (with the exception of Tommy Maddox) to come out of the short-lived and now thankfully-defunct XFL.
It's been tough times for Vince McMahon, what with the wrestling biz hitting one of its occasional lulls.
But to have a fella at the Super Bowl as a living, breathing reminder of Vince's biggest mistake ever ... well, getting hit in the joy division by Stone Cold Steve Austin seems downright cheerful by comparison.
By now, you know the Rod Smart story, largely because he shared it with such verve during Tuesday's Photo Day thigh-slap. Run-of-the-mill special teamer who played football at a basketball school, couldn't crack the Canadian Football League's stringent standards, avoided a career in tavern management by joining the XFL's Las Vegas franchise, seized on a nickname, and ...
Voila! He Hate Me.
But not just He Hate Me. He Hate Me Hits The Big Time.
Smart, you see, returns kicks and fills in on the very occasional running play for the Carolina Panthers. He Hate Me, on the other hand, is the American Dream with a schtick. A schtick he came up with on his own, but one approved and even encouraged by the people who grounded the XFL at the cost of $100 million to McMahon and NBC.
How can you NOT love Rod Smart? Clearly, his teammates adore him, and with good reason. Here's a guy who knows that he is just about the luckiest man alive, and he is enjoying every minute of it. Hell, I'M cheering for him.
On top of everything, he rode to success on the back of Vince McMahon's ego. For that alone, Smart deserves to be loudly and heartily applauded. It's nice to watch someone rise up from adverse circumstances and achieve success. Rod Smart was never a star, and he most likely will never be an NFL star. He recognizes, though, that there is nothing wrong with being a role player, especially given the road that he's had to travel. Suddenly, the Las Vegas Outlaws seem a long ways away and a very long time ago.
"He Hate Me"?? Not any more....
