'He Should Cut Me'

[Black&Blue]

'He Hate Me' now 'He Love Me'

Associated Press
CHARLOTTE (AP) - Carolina running back Rod Smart is changing the nickname that made him famous, dropping "He Hate Me" because of his popularity. Smart said Friday he will now go by "He Love Me."


"I came to Carolina and got my love," he said.

"I came to Carolina and got my love," Rod Smart said. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

Smart originally took the nickname during his brief stint in the defunct XFL. He had "He Hate Me" stitched on the back of his Las Vegas Outlaws jersey as a statement to people who had dismissed him as a player.

But he has been embraced since Carolina claimed him off waivers in 2002, using a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown during the 2003 season to cement his popularity. The name change is part of a promotional gimmick with Alltel, which is using Smart in a campaign centered around the 1970s hit song Come and Get Your Love. The timing is questionable, though. Smart, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, is on the bubble to make Carolina's roster and could be released Saturday in the final round of cuts.

 

[Sackem90]

Now, wouldn't that be some shit if he gets cut and Alltel's put all this money into this promotion. (Alltel's one of the Panther sponsors in case anybody is wondering.)

 

[McFly41]

If they are talking about this in the press, Smart has likely already inked the deal with Alltel. They'd have to pay him either way, unless there is specific verbiage in the contract to state otherwise.

 

[Guest]

cutting him would be stupid....

Robertson was here last year and did squat....Smart has proven himself time after time.....

I want both of them, but it would be BS if Smart is cut due to last years injury.....he has played well enough in preseason to keep his job.

I say cut Shelton.....not really, but damn he has sucked.

 

[The Brain]

cutting him would be stupid....

Robertson was here last year and did squat....Smart has proven himself time after time.....

I want both of them, but it would be BS if Smart is cut due to last years injury.....he has played well enough in preseason to keep his job.

I say cut Shelton.....not really, but damn he has sucked.

lets see... Robinson came in after abour 2/3 of the season was over and had to learn the playbook... now that he's got it learned he's more explosive than Smart. He wouldn't be cut because of last year's injury, but because his butt has been outplayed at camp. And not by just a little bit.

 

[Trashman1962]

lets see... Robinson came in after abour 2/3 of the season was over and had to learn the playbook... now that he's got it learned he's more explosive than Smart. He wouldn't be cut because of last year's injury, but because his butt has been outplayed at camp. And not by just a little bit.

Imho the decision will be based mostly on special teams abilities and have little to do with who is superior as a running back. Yes, we ended up going something like 5 deep last year at the RB position, but that was not normal and the team will not likley stock itself with the idea that the 4th RB will be satisfactory as a full time back. Davis, Foster, Goings and possibly even Hoover would have to go down before we asked Smart or Robertson to have anything resembling significant carries. I focused in on Smart during our kickoffs and punts on Thursday, and the man is an absolute BEAST on kick coverage. His abilities there make the difference and will be why he beats our Robertson.

 

[Black&Blue]

Smart has proven himself time after time.....

Besides one kickoff return in '03, he has not proven himself time after time. He has not done anything in the offense. The only stand-out year he had on coverage teams was in 2002.

If keeping Robertson means cutting Smart, do it. Robertson can be much more valuable to the team.

 

[Trashman1962]

Robertson can be much more valuable to the team.

How? Really, I just don't see it. The only realy value either player can add will be on kickoff returns, punt coverage and kickoff coverage. Based on my observations in games, Smart is the better coverage player. He had 18 ST tackles in '02 and 11 in '03. For comparrison, Hankton had 10 ST tackles in '02 and 10 in '03. In terms of running, Robertson appears to be hands-down a better option than Smart, but how many carries will either get this year 10 or 15.....they simply are not competing for running back, they are competing as a kickoff returner and a coverage guy. Smart is one of the best coverage players on the team and replacing him with Roberston will be sacrificing field position, imho.

 

[Black&Blue]

How? Really, I just don't see it.

I think it's obvious that Robertson is the better player, RB or KR. Robertson can break tackles, while Smart can only run into open space. As for Smart's coverage abilities, I happen to believe that those can be easily replaced by Marlon McCree.

 

[magnus]

Robertson's a slightly better return man. I wanted to say he's a much better return man, but Robertson was one yard better in 2004 (with a decimated ST unit) than Smart was in 03. That shows up again in this preseason, with Smart having a greater average than 03, but Robertson against besting it by a yard. A yard isn't that big a difference, but it can be spun either way. I know I haven't been happy with Smart's returns since mid-2003, though.

I do think that RB depth is tremendously important. Davis rubs that cartilage wrong, and Foster goes down on the weight of too many carries? Not all that hard to suggest, unfortunately. That leaves us Goings and an ineffective Shelton, with the assumption that Goings will simply strike gold again.
Smart is not a good RB at all and made a lot of yards on two easy carries this preseason. His hands aren't good, he caused an INT as well. He adds no depth to RB, and if you keep a guy on the active roster, that must be figured in.



That said, I really like Robertson, but I don't want to shit on Smart, either. I really liked him coming to this team, and he was my avatar for a year. I think he brings a lot to the coverage teams. I wish we could keep both. I easily wanted to keep Robertson before, now I could go with either.

And yeah, McCree is a potential gunner now. Hankton's made the squad, Rasmussen has no reason not to. Wesley's still there. We've got ST players, undoubtedly. Wouldn't hurt to have Smart, too, since we weren't that good at ST last year and don't seem to have been any better this year.