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20 years later, Steve Smith remains among Carolina Panthers best draft-day calls
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More than 25 years experience covering NFL, college football and NASCAR
Joined ESPN in 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. Then-Carolina Panthers wide receivers coach Mike McCoy had his eyes set on Utah s Steve Smith when he entered the war room at Bank of America Stadium for the 2001 NFL draft.
For weeks, McCoy had been doing a soft sell on Smith to head coach George Seifert, not wanting his bias as a former Utah quarterback to make it appear this was more than a football evaluation on a 5-foot-9 player viewed more as a return specialist than a receiver.