Former Packers linebacker Za’Darius Smith said team made him feel like ‘a nobody’ last year
outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith didn’t speak to reporters all last season and chose not to share much on social media about his injury-marred 2021 season.
But in an interview with Go Long, a football website created by former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tyler Dunne, Smith blasted the Packers for how they treated him last year and said a benefit of signing a deal with the Minnesota Vikings after getting cut in March was a chance to face the Packers this season.
“I played one year of high school football,” Smith told Dunne. “For me to be where I’m at today, that’s how you know I love the game. I put my all into it. That’s why I felt the way I did with Green Bay — I gave that (expletive) my all. I put my blood, sweat … I put my back on the (expletive) line. I put everything. And that Year 3, I was treated bad. That’s why I’m here now. So, I can play them twice a year.”
NFL 2022 SEASON PREDICTIONS:Super Bowl 57, playoffs, MVP and other awards
32 STORYLINES ENTERING WEEK 1:Potentially crazy, wide-open 2022 season
Play to win $25K: USA TODAY NFL Survivor Pool
NFL NEWSLETTER:Sign up now to get football news delivered to your inbox
Smith agreed to terms with the Baltimore Ravens on a free agent deal after the Packers released him – gaining $15.7 million in salary cap room in the process – but not long after called his agent and told him he wanted to sign with the Vikings. Smith began his career with the Ravens and signed a four-year, $66 million deal with the Packers as an unrestricted free agent in 2019.