Una Smiley ready to make contribution after recovering from gunshot wounds

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Gazette-Times Reporter

Life has dramatically settled down for Una Smiley since joining the Oregon State football team in the spring.

There’s a sense of normalcy in the grind of practice, meetings and lifting weights. Training camp is a physical challenge, but one Smiley won’t take for granted after the last two years.

His life has a purpose now that keeps him going. That wasn’t the case during his recovery from gunshot wounds to his legs in December 2006.

“He looks better, and he seems more comfortable and happier,” coach Mike Riley said. “All that is a result of good work; he’s made progress.”

The junior college transfer had already committed to OSU and was on a recruiting trip to New Mexico because the Lobos wanted an opportunity to sign him.

Smiley and three members of the New Mexico team were outside a nightclub when they were victims of a drive-by shooting. He was hit five times in the legs, all below the knees.

Two bullets hit his left shin and three his right calf. A bullet in the left leg is still lodged in the bone. The ones that hit the right leg passed through, causing nerve damage.

He still can’t move his right big toe and there’s no feeling in his right foot. His doctor says only time will tell if his condition improves.

“As far as problems, I have no problem, other than I don’t have any feeling,” Smiley said. “Hopefully, it will all work out and it will come back sooner than later.”

During the recovery process Smiley just sat at home and thought about his life too much. He didn’t go through physical therapy because he couldn’t afford much medical attention after the initial work.

Smiley’s weight increased to the point that he showed up to spring practice at 330 pounds. His playing weight at Palomar College near San Diego was around 280 pounds.

His goal is to get to 295 pounds for the season. He’s at 308 thanks to the offseason training program and the current training camp.

“He needs to keep working hard,” offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “But he does look a little quicker than he did in the spring time.”

Smiley is working in with the second string offense at left tackle behind team leader Andy Levitre, and sometimes at the second left guard. He’s going through Cavanaugh’s crash course in learning OSU’s system and blocking technique.

There’s a self-created pressure to perform for the Beavers since they kept his scholarship available while he recovered and told him it was his even if he couldn’t play again.

And there’s a need. The team needs another tackle besides Levitre to establish himself to make the offense run smoothly.

“Now that I’ve broken in, I kind of know what I’m doing right now,” Smiley said. “As far as play-wise, I’m getting it down. There’s still a lot to learn and a lot to improve on. I still have a little more weight. I have to drop down a few more pounds and get a little more agile and I should be in the mix pretty soon, hopefully.”

If Smiley can do it, Levitre could move over to the right side. Smiley has to stay at left tackle because of the lack of feeling in his right foot.

With the outside foot on its toes when down in a three-point stance, Smiley loses his base and his right ankle could roll at any time if it is on the outside.

“I need this right foot planted on the ground at all times, so the left side is the only place I can play right now,” Smiley said.

However, his feeling has slowly improved in time. Combine that with better conditioning and greater understanding of the offense, Smiley inches closer to his old self.

When he reaches his goals the Beavers should have a dominant blocker.

“I’m about 50 percent there,” Smiley said. “I got another 50 percent to go before I’m satisfied with my progress. I just need to maximize my reps and take all the reps I can. I need to get in my playbook double time, and do some extra conditioning after practice.”