Derik Smith has overcome a lot to get onto the college football field. Hope College athletics photo by Lynne Powe

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

Like many young boys, Derik Smith aspired to play college football.

He achieved it yet had to overcome some adversity along the way to do so.

The Hope College junior defensive end had part of his right leg amputated when he was 9. But, that didn’t stop him from becoming a top-tier athlete. It merely changed the way he did it.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to compete at a high level and play college football,” he said. “It’s cool to be out there doing it. By me doing it, it shows it’s possible for anybody to go out there and do it. Just to set the example for people with disabilities to show they can do anything they work for is great. Really, the stereotype for people with missing limbs is that they can’t perform at a high level. My goal is to prove that’s wrong and show them that it is possible.”

As a sports-crazed 7-year-old, Smith and his family knew something was wrong when he broke his leg just playing football alone in his family’s living room. He went to a doctor, got a cast on the leg and, after a few months, the bone didn’t heal. That process repeated itself and multiple surgeries followed over the next two years. Still, no progress. Finally, doctors discovered he had cancer in his lower right tibia.

Doctors wanted to fight the cancer and save his leg, but it would keep Smith restricted to a wheelchair. At first, Smith wanted to save the leg, too. However, he longed to get back to school with his buddies and do all the things they were doing. So, he made a choice few 9-year-olds encounter – amputation. Doctors performed a Syme amputation on his lower right leg and he was fitted with a prosthetic.

“The doctors put me in my own boat – if I wanted to be an athlete at the middle school or high school level, I’d have to have an amputation. If I didn’t do it, I’d always be in a wheelchair and not have that opportunity to do all the things I wanted,” he said. “On April 24, 2012, my life was forever changed, but changed for the good.”

By the next month, Smith was back playing Little League baseball as a catcher on his knees.

By the next fall, he was back on the football field.

“It was tough to get back my balance of walking, going heel to toe, heel to toe,” he said. “I was just working hard and trying to get back to being a regular student-athlete.”

The ultimate competitor, Smith excelled in the classroom and in every gym or field he could find. His cancer came back when he was a freshman in high school and he endured another surgery on his leg. Because of that, he couldn’t play basketball that winter. Instead, he decided to wrestle strictly on his knees. He made it to the state tournament. After that, he participated and excelled in track and field, football and basketball throughout high school.

“If I could have played 12 sports in elementary or high school, I would have,” he said with a laugh. “If there were a lot more seasons, I’d play everything.”

Smith excelled especially in track and field. His running, jumping and throwing got the attention of several NCAA Division-I adaptive athletic programs.

“I received scholarship offers for the University of Arizona and the University of Texas-Arlington paralympic track and field programs,” he said. “Those are great opportunities and great schools and I am grateful for them. But, football wasn’t part of them and I really wanted to drive football. My heart’s been there ever since I can remember.”

So, Smith got an opportunity to join the Hope program once a spot opened up among the Flying Dutchmen’s offensive linemen. Smith never played on the offensive line, but seized the opportunity anyway. He played some as a freshman and moved to his preferred spot on the defensive line the past two seasons. He got some time in Hope’s 54-17 win over Northwestern-St. Paul on Saturday and recorded a tackle.

“It was awesome. It’s always a fun opportunity to get into a game,” he said. “I am always looking for more time as we go on, of course. But, at Hope College, we have a saying of ‘Do your job.’ So, you just do your job, whether that’s on the scout team or you’re playing in games and starting or you’re not playing at all. Whatever your job is, you need to do it to the best of your ability.”

A 6-5, 246-pounder, Smith thinks of himself as any other player, though the prosthetic alters his approach.

“I am very good, vertically. Whenever I have to go horizontal, it’s a little difficult,” he said. “Now, I have adjusted. I really learned how to do it. Every day, you just have to get better and adapt to what’s given to you.”

Prosthetic or not, Smith is coming after opponents just like anyone else.

“Almost every time I hit the field, I wrap my leg, just so it’s padded. But, you can still tell I have a prosthetic,” he said. “I’ll hear opponents say, ‘Hey, it’s just great you’re out here.’ I’ll say, ‘Thanks, but I am still going to kick your butt.’ No matter if I have one leg or two legs or one arm or two arms, I’ll hit you just as hard as the next guy.

“I always say that it’s football – not feetball – and I am still here playing.”

Smith continues to excel in track and field. After suffering a hamstring injury running the 200 last year, he intends to focus on the long jump, discus and javelin.

“I really needed to cut my events down. It was hard to let that one go,” he said. “Overall, it’s great participating in track and field. It’s a polar opposite from football. Football is more team-based, where you’re just one of 11 teammates out there at a time. Track is all on you. If you don’t put in the time, you don’t get the result you want. It’s a whole different sport that drives me to get the results I truly desire.

Hope College athletics photo by Lynne Powe

“Right now, with it being football season, it’s football I am focused on,” he added. “After football practice, I might go out and finesse my technical stuff, but nothing too serious. Definitely, football is first in the fall season, though.”

Participating with a prosthetic in track and field has presented its challenged as well.

“It was definitely hard to adapt. Coming out of the blocks or jumping for long jump, there’s always a little bit of something I kind of lack,” he said. “I know that everything I do is going to be a little different. I just listen to the coaches and have to learn on my own and realize it’ll be a little different. I have to know what I can do. When I throw the discus and shotput, there’s no running or jumping. It’s stationary throwing.”

For his perseverance, Smith was awarded Hope College’s Karen Page Courage Award at the college’s annual HOPEYs awards event in April. While he views himself as just a regular student-athlete and doesn’t seek any special attention, he accepts being a role model.

“It’s cool to be recognized and see the people you impact, that you might take for granted,” he said. “If God put me in this world to be an inspiration, I might as well inspire.”

He hopes to continue to do just that. Smith has excelled at the national and international levels in track and field. He competed at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation 2022 World Games and captured three first-place finishes in four events. He won his division in the discus, long jump and 100 meters for Team USA at the three-day event in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal.

“That was awesome,” he said. “It was cool to represent the United States during that. It was nice to get to see what an international event like that is really all about. It wasn’t the biggest event, but one of those things that’s the next step to my next goal. It was very cool representing the United States.”

The physical and health education major hopes to one day represent Team USA at the 2024 Paralympics in France or the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.

“Just to go to these national meets and see the older guys and following their footsteps as one of the younger guys is great,” he said. “They are all very helpful to me, giving me tips on things. We’re all there just trying to help the United States win gold medals.”

Upon graduation and when not chasing gold medals, Smith wants to become a physical education and health teacher.

“I’ll probably do that here in Michigan,” he said “My family lives in Nebraska now, so we’ll see what happens. I’ll go wherever God takes me.”