Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992, JOGO 1994, JOGO 1995, JOGO 1997, JOGO 1999, JOGO 2000, JOGO 2001.
Acquired:  TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:    2/9       Received: 3/13   (31 days)

Irvin Smith played collegiality for Maryland from 1985 to 1988. Unable to make it on the roster of the Jets, Irvin joined the London Monarchs of the WLAF in 1991. There he made 2 picks for 8 yards as the team finished with a 9-1 record as a talented defense shut down the Dragons in World Bowl I 21-7.

After a short stint on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL, Smith returned to the Monarchs in 1992.  Although the team did not meet the same success from the previous season, Irv stepped up and recorded another 2 interceptions that season.
The league restructured after the season, so Irvin took his talents back to the CFL settling on the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  In 1993 he returned to the NFL and was on the roster of both the Redskins and Vikings.

The CFL had been eyeing the US market for a long time, so in 1994 they decided to expand
southward, selecting locations such as Las Vegas, Sacramento, Baltimore, and Shreveport. Irv signed with the Baltimore Colts (later CFLers/Stallions). He made an immediate impact in Don Matthews defense, pulling down 6 interceptions for 97 yards where the Stallions made their first appearance in the Grey Cup. Although the team lost to the BC Lions, Irvin and the Stallions won the Grey Cup the following season and Smith had established quite a reputation as a dangerous defender to pass against. As the CFL contracted due to financial issues and the NFL gave Baltimore the Ravens, the Stallions moved up to Montreal and became the Alouettes in 1996.

Irvin at first didn’t feel like making the move, but went ahead and joined the franchise in Montreal. It’d be a new chapter in Smith’s career, and a very productive one at that with 6 interceptions for 105 yards and a TD in ’96. He’d follow it up with two back to back 3 interception season in 1997 and 1998.  Smith had his finest season in 1999, hawking 7 interceptions for 51 yards and a touchdown. Irvin played for 2 additional years in Montreal, retiring after the 2001 season.

Smith returned to the Baltimore area where he lives today and is a firefighter. I had been trying to track Smith down for sometime finally locating his address through the White pages. After sending to the address I found in Maryland, I got an RTS with a forwarding address in Florida. I turned it around and sent it to the other address the next day. About a month later I got this stuffed envelope full of cards and a nice letter from Irvin. I had only sent Smith his 2 WLAF cards, but he stuffed it with all his JOGO cards and a nice letter.

 

WLAF    Tac N/a   Sac N/a   Fum N/a
Int 4     Yds 23     Avg 5.8     TD 0    Lg 15

CFL   Tac 329     Sac 1.0      Fum 10
Int 31    Yds 352     Avg 11.4      Td 2      Lg 54