Big League Small Fry

The transformation starts when the ball drops out of the sky into Reggie Smith's waiting grasp. At first, Smith, the Atlanta Falcons' kick returner, makes all of the usual moves. But he doesn't have much of a stride, and suddenly, in quick bursts, the pattern changes. Like this: His feet go step, step, step. Then they go step-step-step, and then stepstepstepstepstep into a circular blur. And as Smith accelerates, he huffs up his chest, hunches down his head and squares his shoulders with the distant goal line. To the oncoming defenders, the effect is absolutely screwy. In the few seconds before they collide with Smith, errant thoughts leap into their minds: This guy isn't really running—he's rolling at me like a red and silver bowling ball. And: Where do you grab hold of this thing?

So far, they've usually managed to stop Smith. That's fine; sudden stops are the expected fate of kick returners. But that's not what counts. Consider, if you will, the fierce sight of it: Reggie Smith is 5'4" and 159 pounds. He's darned near square. Officially, he's the smallest of all the 1,260 players in the NFL.

At last, there is someone in the game who can stand for all us normal folks. Our Mister Metaphor. The beauty is that Smith doesn't have to be the best—the game is already full of the best thises and thats—he just has to be the onlyest.

"I look at him this way," says Atlanta Coach Leeman Bennett. "Reggie isn't small; he's just short."

That explains it. In the Falcons' opening game two weeks ago, a 27-0 win over New Orleans, the first time Smith got his hands on the ball was on a first-quarter punt. He wheeled to start upfield and: thwack, thwack. Minus four yards. Saints Scott Pelleur and Chuck Evans fell on him. They are 6'2" and 6'3", respectively, and their combined weight is 450 pounds. One might have thought that Smith's season would end right there or, at least, that he would be suitably cowed. No way. Reggie got up, looked 'em right in the kneecaps and sneered.

At the start of the second half, Smith took the kickoff on the three-yard line and started step-step-stepping along until he reached the 25, where the sculptured curve of the Bermuda grass at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium gives way to the hard-packed dirt of the baseball infield. There waited one Frank Wattelet, an even six feet and 185 pounds. He determined that the best way to stop the roller was to throw himself in front of it. Other Saints piled on. All one could make out was a disorderly pile of buttocks and the backs of massive thighs and calves. Then Smith came crawling out. From the stands, one could see the principals exchanging pleasantries.

"It was just the usual greetings," Smith said later. "They all just smiled at me—that kind of wolfish smile—and they said, 'Sooner or later, we gonna bust your ass, little man.' "

That, of course, is what makes Smith's runs such shuddering fun. Little man, indeed. It's going to be that kind of year for all the Falcons, though, because collectively they are the lightest, yet assuredly not the most lightly regarded, team in the league. Last year Atlanta rolled through a 12-4 season only to lose to Dallas, 30-27, in the playoffs. This year the Falcons are 2-0 and see themselves playing in Super Bowl XVI.

In addition to the smallest, the Falcons also have the lightest NFL player—full-timer, that is; we're not counting one or two placekickers. The willowy Alfred Jenkins, All-Pro wide receiver with a team-leading 57 catches for 1,025 yards last season, comes in at a modest 5'9"—but weighs just 155 pounds, four fewer than Reggie Smith. He also has a 28-inch waist in a world where people have wrists at least that big around.

Smith and Jenkins sparked Atlanta's spectacular comeback in Sunday's 31-17 win at Green Bay. The Falcons were trailing 17-3 in the fourth quarter when Smith returned a punt 53 yards to the Packers' two-yard line. Atlanta scored on the next play and tied the game moments later when Jenkins caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Steve Bartkowski. For the game, Jenkins had five catches for 97 yards.