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Smith's teammates like his moxie
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 07:23 PM
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Tim Couch despised it. Akili Smith's teammates loved it. A day after Smith led the Cincinnati Bengals to an 18-17 victory in Cleveland, his teammates were still talking about the bravado he showed in his first NFL start. Smith egged on the Dawg Pound, led the Bengals 80 yards in the final two minutes to a winning touchdown, then pounded his chest at the Cleveland bench - an in-your-face gesture rarely seen from such a downtrodden team. The Bengals (1-4) savored it. "That's something special that we could ride," said cornerback Artrell Hawkins, one of the Bengals' more demonstrative players. "After he threw that touchdown pass and came off the field and he was beating his chest and kind of jeering the fans, that's something Brett Favre would do. "Just that killer instinct to go and prove something and have that last-minute drive, that's big-time. You've seen Brett Favre do that every week." Smith didn't hide his emotions. He let everyone know he felt snubbed by the Browns when they negotiated with him leading up to the draft, then chose Couch as their quarterback. He promised revenge, got it and then rubbed it in. "I celebrated big-time," Smith said Monday. "It was the first meeting we ever had between me and Couch and my first start. For us to go out and beat them 18-17, it felt real good." Smith's gesture angered Couch, who said he won't forget. After sleeping on it, Smith made no apologies for what happened. "That's just the way I felt," he said. "During the game, I didn't let any emotions fly. I was calm, collected, focused on what I needed to do. After the game, I just let my emotions go." When Carl Pickens caught a 2-yard touchdown pass with 5 seconds left, the rookie quarterback raised his arms in celebration, congratulated teammates and then gestured towards the other side of the field. While all that was going on, the 73,048 fans booed and at least one bottle was tossed on the field. Smith said his family took some verbal abuse from the Browns fans sitting in the stands around them. "They were nasty, totally nasty," Smith said. "They were nasty with my aunt and my family. They were booing, throwing beer cans at me on the sideline. It was a bad deal." It was what everyone expects from a Browns-Bengals game. Coach Bruce Coslet, who gained a little more job security with the win, didn't care about the Browns' reaction to Smith. "Hey, we're just happy to win a game," Coslet said Monday. "If Tim Couch takes it as a personal affront, well, so what? Let's go on. Gee whiz." Smith completed 25 of 42 for 221 yards and two touchdowns in a low-risk offense that featured running back Corey Dillon. On the winning drive, Smith completed his first four passes for 49 yards, including a fourth-down throw to Darnay Scott that set up the score. "I just told him to do it like in practice and he did all right," Coslet said. "We're not putting him into the Hall of Fame yet, OK? But he played well. He played better than I expected him to play, and good for him." The Bengals think it's good for them. "He was pretty impressive," guard Brian DeMarco said. "Give him his due. He was pretty poised and in control in that situation. There's a lot of things we all need to work on but if he keeps improving, he's going to do this team some good."
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