10 Questions With...Steve Smith

New York Giants wide receiver Steve Smith exploded onto the NFL scene in 2009 with a Pro Bowl season, accumulating 107 catches for 1,220 yards. Last year, he started off hot again before being derailed by a knee injury in Week 9. Now Smith is hard at work trying to get back to 100 percent, and he’s letting his fans in on his progress every step of the way. Smith has over 200,000 fans following his rehab on Facebook and Twitter. (Check him out on Twitter @SteveSmithNY.) We know he’s tough enough to make it back on the field, but is he tough enough to handle our 10 questions? Keep reading to find out…

What time is your alarm set for?

8 o clock, so I could get over to physical therapy this morning.

Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry ice cream?

Chocolate.

What was your childhood nickname?

HollywoodSmitty. My boys from my neighborhood gave me that one because I started to get a little bit of press, so they just started calling me Hollywood. They also called me Scuba Steve in college. This girl started calling me Scuba and then the whole school started calling me that, actually.

If you weren’t an athlete, what would you want to do?

Just growing up, if I wasn’t going to be a football player, I was going to be a movie director.

Why do you wear the jersey number you do?

Growing up, I was #2, but in the NFL, it’s not legal for receivers to wear low numbers like that, so I just threw on the 1 and it was kind of like the 2 was still in there.

What is your favorite city to compete in?

I would have to say New York or New Jersey. You have to compete at home. It’s always fun going on the road, too. Dallas is great. I think Philadelphia is good, too, because we haven’t had a lot of success there. They hate us there. They throw eggs at us on our bus, it’s crazy. Eagles fans say the meanest things they can think of. Your family, your mom, they do their research.

What do you do on days off?

I play video games. I’m beating my friend up right now on Madden. I like shopping. I spend a lot of time with my newborn. Once he’s old enough, I’ll have to let him win [in Madden], so that’s going to be tough.

Who is the greatest athlete of all-time?

Michael Jordan. Hands down. He was my favorite. I still feel like some of the stuff he was doing back then, players still can’t do now. Basketball was my first sport, before football, in high school. I think I would’ve been playing in the NBA if I would’ve grown. I just stopped growing. 

Who is your best friend in sports?

My best friend is Paul Pratt, he plays [cornerback] for the Detroit Lions. We compete together all the time. He works hard. We make each other better. We met in junior high. We went to junior high together, we went to high school together. We separated in college, but we’ve always been close.

What is the last item that you purchased?

I purchased a stroller for my son. It’s a great one. It’s pretty much for his mom. She picked out the one she liked and I just bought it.