High school career

Smith attended Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was named Gatorade Football Player of the Year in Tennessee in 2006.

In addition to football, he also played basketball and ran track. In track, he was primarily a jumper. He won the state meet in the high jump (1.98 m) and the decathlon, scoring 6230 points. He had a career-best leap of 2.03 meters in the high jump. He also had personal-best jumps of 6.54 meters in long jump and 14.15 meters in triple jump.

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was listed as the No.25 Athlete in the nation. Many scouts believed he could play offense or defense in college. He chose Notre Dame over offers from Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama.

College career

After red-shirting as a freshman in 2007, he emerged as a star in 2008. He began his career at linebacker. In his first year, he started 9 games and recorded 57 tackles, which included 8.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. As a junior in 2009, he started 6 games at strong safety, then strongside linebacker for the final 6 games. He recorded 69 tackles including 6.5 tackles for loss. In 2010, as a senior, he played strong safety where he recorded 93 tackles including a team-high 7 interceptions. In 2011, he was accepted to a graduate program at Notre Dame allowing him to play another season. In his final year in 2011, serving as team captain, he played in and started in all 13 games. He recorded 90 tackles including 3 tackles for loss.

Career Statistics

College

Regular season statistics				Tackles					Interceptions						Fumbles
Season	Team	GP	GS	Comb	Total	Ast	Sck	Sfty	PDef	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	TDs	FF	FR	FR YDS
2008	Notre Dame	13	9	57	39	18	3.5	--	7	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	Notre Dame	12	12	69	39	30	0.0	--	4	0	0	0.0	0	0	1	0	0
2010	Notre Dame	13	13	93	56	37	0.0	--	7	7	54	7.7	23	0	0	0	0
2011	Notre Dame	13	13	90	53	37	0.0	--	10	0	0	0.0	0	0	1	0	0
Totals		51	47	309	187	122	2.0	--	28	7	54	7.7	23	0	2	0	0

NFL

Minnesota Vikings
Regular season statistics				Tackles					Interceptions						Fumbles
Season	Team	GP	GS	Comb	Total	Ast	Sck	Sfty	PDef	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	TDs	FF	FR	FR YDS
2012	MIN	16	16	104	74	30	1.0	--	11	3	87	29.0	56T	2	1	0	0
2013	MIN	8	7	58	47	11	0.0	--	3	2	4	2.0	4	0	0	0	0
2014	MIN	16	16	92	71	21	3.0	--	9	5	150	30.0	81T	1	1	0	0
2015	MIN	13	13	66	49	15	1.5	--	3	2	35	17.5	35T	1	1	0	0
Career		53	52	320	241	79	5.5	--	26	12	276	--	81T	4	3	0	0

[ Source: Wikipedia ]