Ihmir Smith-Marsette wants to do more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Given the offseason opportunity to study the offensive playbook that he didn\u2019t have prior to joining his hometown Giants in Week 2 of last season, Smith-Marsette is hoping to earn a spot in the receiver rotation. He will enter training camp as the team\u2019s long-missing X factor on special teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m ready to play offense in the big leagues,\u201d Smith-Marsette told The Post. \u201cI love the guys in front of me, but we all play the game for a reason and we all want to be that guy. My goal is to perform at the highest level I can and show the world I\u2019m able to play receiver at the NFL level.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith-Marsette\u2019s appetite to do more includes giving back to his native Newark, which is why he covered the costs of hosting a free community weekend at his alma mater Weequahic High School. He combined a football camp with bounce houses, an ice cream truck, autographs and more for more than 160 expected attendees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ihmir Smith-Marsette wants a role as a receiver. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bigger than just football,\u201d Smith-Marsette said. \u201cIt\u2019s about me being somebody who can share experiences with the youth and take pressure off the parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI come from the inner city. Not everybody has the means to pay for a camp or a field day, so why would I take away from people who I was in their same shoes? I don\u2019t need to spend my money on the stupid things in the world. I\u2019d rather show my community that you can be in my shoes if you work hard and do what you need to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith-Marsette, 25, scored on a 100-yard kickoff return last season and would\u2019ve also tallied a punt return touchdown \u2014 becoming the first Giant to do both in the same season since Dwayne Harris in 2015 \u2014 if not for a phantom holding penalty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he played just seven offensive snaps because top receivers Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton and Wan\u2019Dale Robinson mostly stayed healthy \u2014 especially compared to the rest of an injury-plagued roster \u2014 and logged more than 800 snaps apiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt any moment, I can change the momentum of the game in a special teams area,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it be kickoff return, punt return, field goal block, I can make big plays.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The NFL tweaked its kickoff rule again this offseason to increase returns. Starting field position after a touchback is now the 35-yard line \u2014 up from the 30 \u2014 as more of a deterrent for kicking teams to create an action-less play.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giants returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette hosted a free community weekend at his alma mater Weequahic High School in Newark, N.J. Photo courtesy of Ihmir Smith-Marsette <\/p>\n
\u201cNow they have to kick it to me and see if they can stop me, so let\u2019s do it,\u201d Smith-Marsette said. \u201cI\u2019m so excited. The more times I can get my hands on the ball, the more times the game might be changed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Giants re-signed Smith-Marsette to a one-year contract instead of the similarly used Gunner Olszewski during free agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the former fifth-round pick isn\u2019t getting complacent about securing a roster spot after cycling through five teams in five seasons and totaling 14 catches for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Jalin Hyatt is penciled in as the No. 4 receiver, leaving two other spots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ihmir Smith-Marsette provides the Giants a long-awaited X Factor on special teams. Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cI always feel like I\u2019m that guy counted out, and I have to prove it every year. That\u2019s just my mindset,\u201d Smith-Marsette said. \u201cNothing is guaranteed. At the end of the day, the NFL is looking to get rid of the older people and bring in the young people, and I can\u2019t let them have that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith-Marsette\u2019s production on special teams is no accident. It\u2019s the result of characteristics that could translate to offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cA good decision-maker \u2026 whether he\u2019s in traffic [or] the open field. And then he obviously takes care of that football,\u201d special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you\u2019re always talking about the character of a person and their competitive integrity. That guy has it. You see that in the manner in which he approaches the meetings. You hear the way he communicates with his teammates. When he\u2019s out there, he\u2019s the voice. His teammates respect that because they know how important it is to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The same authoritative voice came out of Smith-Marsette as he talked about his plans to continue and expand his community weekend event in the future. Preparing for it is the reason that he couldn\u2019t join 19 Giants teammates in San Diego last week for workouts organized by quarterback Russell Wilson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI get to do what I do in my backyard,\u201d Smith-Marsette said. \u201cMy community pushed me to be the best person I am right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ihmir Smith-Marsette wants to do more.\u00a0 Given the offseason opportunity to study the offensive playbook that he didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":62241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[4716,1232,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-62240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-new-york-giants","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114845968240880484","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}