Smith, family face disaster By Will HammockSports Editor When the San Diego Chargers released rookie Rod Smith three weeks ago, the news was hard to take. But it wasn't nearly as bad as what happened to the South Gwinnett grad when he got home.The Sunday evening and Monday morning storms that ravaged the Gwinnett area brought with it heavy lightning, and one of the bolts struck the Snellville house where Smith and his family lived at around 5:30 a.m. Monday. The house quickly was ablaze and became a total loss before the fire department arrived."By the time (the fire department) got there, the whole house was on fire," Smith said. "At that point, they were just trying to save the other houses around it."Smith suddenly wasn't too concerned with his pro football career. He had more pressing issues at hand.Smith's parents, two younger brothers and a cousin were left without a home, but also without any belongings. Nothing in the house could be salvaged. The Red Cross provided enough money for a small trip to Wal-Mart for clothes, but the family is still in recovery mode while living with Smith's uncle near Shiloh High School.Smith's pit bull, D.J., made it out of the fire, but not much else did."We had so much in that house, all my memories," said the 24-year-old, who finished his playing career at Auburn last year. "My football memories from high school and college. All my plaques and trophies. My jerseys. I watched it all burn down to the ground. That's what I'm going to miss the most."But as long as my family made it out, that was the big thing."It seems nothing happens too smoothly for Smith.Injured at the end of his high school career, he got little interest from colleges. He walked on at Auburn, where he started for three seasons and played on scholarship his final two years.His transition to pro football wasn't an immediate success, either. San Diego released him near the end of the preseason, but his agent said NFL and CFL teams are still very interested. With that as his goal, he works out daily with David Irons Sr. at The Factory."Nothing comes easy for me, but I'm used to it," Smith said. "It's nothing new to me."Though the latest hardship is very new and very painful.Anyone wishing to help Smith and his family with their hardship can e-mail to smitrod@auburn.edu.Will Hammock can be reached via e-mail at will.hammock@gwinnettdailypost.com. His column appears on Thursdays.
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