Defensive back Tykee Smith’s long road back for the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs

West Philadelphia native Tykee Smith spent the first decade of his life waiting to sign himself up for contact football.

Fast-forward to his junior year of college, and a preseason injury sidelined him for Georgia’s first five games of 2021. More time to wait. Then, after playing one game, the defensive back suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice.

For the third time in his young life, Smith had to wait, again, for his opportunity.

When No. 1 Georgia faces No. 11 LSU for the SEC championship on Saturday with a spot in the College Football Playoff on the line, No. 23 in black and red will be more than 400 days removed from his knee injury.

Tykee’s biggest inspiration and motivation on the road to recovery? His nearly year-old daughter, Zyla.

“The biggest thing that keeps me going every day is my daughter,” Smith said. “When times get tough, that’s who I am thinking about. I’ve got to feed her.”

Smith once was considered the hottest commodity on the transfer portal after two seasons at West Virginia that produced 114 tackles and four interceptions, but all he has focused on this season is getting fully healthy.

“When I get to the point [of being fully healthy], I’ll be really thankful for that and finally showcase what I can do,” he said.

Flag football served as Smith’s introduction to the sport as he played in an after-school program while his mother worked evenings to provide for their family. It wasn’t until Smith was 11 or 12 that he could join his youth football league.

“I had to kind of wait until I got to the age where I could sign myself up and walk myself to practice because by the time I was getting out of middle school, my mom was already at work,” Smith said.

Smith initially attended Paul Robeson High in West Philly, which did not have a football program, and transferred to Imhotep Charter in the middle of his freshman year. He got familiar with the football program in the spring as he connected with his future teammates. By his sophomore year, he had become a key contributor defensively.

» READ MORE: Imhotep’s Tykee Smith uses mental preparation to become one of Pennsylvania’s top football prospects

The talent that Imhotep’s program has produced — D.J. Moore, David Williams, and Shaka Toney, to name a few — cannot be overstated, and Smith credits the star power that surrounded him as a sophomore with helping him receive attention from college coaches.

West Virginia offered him a scholarship that year. Although Smith yearned for a Penn State offer, the multipurpose star for the Panthers built a strong connection with the Mountaineers coaching staff and committed before his senior season.

» READ MORE: Imhotep Charter’s Tykee Smith commits to West Virginia

During his two-year stint in Morgantown, W. Va., he was named to the All-Big 12 second team after earning honorable mention as a freshman.

“During the first four games [at West Virginia], I played like eight or nine snaps, so I was trying to get used to the college pace,” Smith said. “Then one of my teammates entered the [transfer] portal, and that’s when they wanted to start me, and I was just thankful for the opportunity.”

Despite the accolades, he decided he wanted more.

“[I wanted] to play at a bigger stage and for just a fresh start,” Smith said of his decision to enter the transfer portal following West Virginia’s 6-4 campaign amid the pandemic in 2020.

That fresh start? In Athens, Ga., for Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs, a program that was knocking on the door of a national championship. On April 4, 2021, Smith made the jump to Georgia, joining a team that boasted a defensive back room filled with four- and five-star recruits.

Smith got a taste of how stiff the competition was during spring practices.

“The biggest difference was definitely size, how physical it was in practice” he said. “I kind of knew half of these dudes from high school with all of us being at the Nike Opening Finals for the top 150 players in the country coming out, so I knew the players that were in my class.”

Smith was on his way to becoming a key contributor for a national champion before his knee injury derailed that. The next 12 months would heavily depend on his support system to see the recovery through.

The road back for Tykee Smith wasn’t easy. Countless hours of rehab far from home can take a toll on an athlete.

Smith watched on the sidelines while his team captured its first national championship since 1980, but it was his talks with family, and seeing his daughter, that kept him going.

“At first, I was definitely down on myself about the injury, but I talked to my mom and family members, and they told me to trust the Lord and whatever he’s got planned, it’s going to happen, meant to happen,” he said. “That helped brighten up [the situation] a little bit, and I was ... focusing on what’s next and what I have to do to get back.”

That mentality helped Smith back onto the field this season, and it’s easy to see how much more comfortable he looks the deeper into the season he gets. He attributes that to his Philadelphia roots, appreciating where he came from yet realizing how fortunate he is to get out after a rough upbringing.

“Philadelphia helped mold me into who I am, so I’m thankful being from there, but I was definitely glad to get up out of there because it’s a rough city, real dangerous,” Smith said.

» READ MORE: Former Imhotep star Tykee Smith helps Georgia avert disaster in Missouri

Although Smith didn’t see the field much during the first month of the season, he made his first career start on Oct. 1 in a 26-22 win over Missouri when he collected three tackles.

After forcing a fumble against Vanderbilt on Oct. 15, Smith put on Georgia’s special turnover pads. As he triumphantly smiled in that moment, the time away from the game made his success that much sweeter. And he can’t wait to keep taking full advantage of a third opportunity.

“My mindset would be I’m finally back to who I was and what I was and I’m finally back healthy,” Smith said.