just beautiful hand-eye coordination&hellip

ksdsoft13g20

Mario Manningham (21 catches for 329 yards), the team's fastest receiver, has major big-play ability, too—and showed a slightly smoother celebratory end-zone slide in Dallas than Mr. Smith's post-touchdown dance.
And cornerback Bruce Johnson made sure to cement that as part of Mr. Smith's identity in training camp, when after trash talk from the Panthers' four–time Pro Bowl receiver Steve Smith, Mr. Johnson said the only Steve Smith he cared about was "the one that went to the Pro Bowl last year."
SEATTLE—It was before the season, somewhere in the halls of the Giants' training complex.
Mr. Smith set the Giants' team record for receptions last year with 107. He went to the Pro Bowl, the franchise's first wide receiver to do so in 40 years.
He smiled when he spoke of a video he tweeted professing his disinterest in people who discuss his fantasy value and he grinned when the topic was raised of the attention second-year wideout [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] is getting.
"I don't think he's that much different," Mr. Carroll said of Mr. Smith from when he coached him to now. "He had the extreme ability to catch the football. He has fantastically natural hands, just beautiful hand-eye coordination…He did all of that stuff for us."
Mr. Smith was back on his native West Coast this weekend, to play the Seahawks and for a mini-reunion with Pete Carroll, his coach at USC. Mr. Carroll is in his first season coaching the Seahawks and he offered an insight into Mr. Smith's mindset when he was asked what he missed from the college game.
The pair won a title together at USC—with current Giants corner Terrell Thomas—at the end of the 2006 season, with Mr. Smith catching three touchdown passes in that Orange Bowl victory. The next year the Los Angeles native was a Giants rookie, converting four third-down receptions in the Giants' stunning Super Bowl win over the then-undefeated Patriots.

Mr. Smith is not particularly tall (5-11) or stout (195). His speed in the 40-yard dash wasn't anything that dropped jaws at the NFL combine. But he was a load to handle in college and he is here, too, because of the way he creates separation from the defense.
"I never know what he's doing there," Mr. Thomas said of Mr. Smith's end- zone celebrations. "That's 'Scuba Steve' for you."
A team staffer passed wide receiver Steve Smith, stopped him, and in an excited, half-joking voice told him, "I just drafted you last night in my fantasy football draft. I'm expecting big numbers from you."
The nickname came in college, courtesy of a character in the Adam Sandler movie "Big Daddy," and Mr. Smith showed no qualms in hearing it again.
This is Mr. Smith, a 25-year-old who won a national championship at Southern Cal and a Super Bowl with the Giants and has an awfully sincere look when he swears he doesn't care about numbers.
"Winning on Sunday," he said. "That's the next goal."
But the Giants' Mr. Smith expresses as much desire to match that feat as he does to be a prime fantasy football producer. Which is to say: none.
"I've got more confidence," he said, "I think that shows up on the field." [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
"I miss winning every week," he said. "That was fun."
He's Eli Manning's most dependable pass-catcher, Mr. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but he also has great complements in the Giants' second and third receivers this year.
"Hakeem should go to the Pro Bowl this year," he said.
And in the way he dismisses his fantasy football worth.
He's comfortable with who he is, he said, and that ultimately is the one area in which he believes he has made the greatest gains as a pro, he said.
Going into Sunday's game against the Seahawks, Mr. Smith had 43 catches for 471 yards and two touchdowns.
Pro Bowl Is Not the Ultimate for the Giants' Steve Smith
Mr. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s (45 catches for 525 yards) always-impressive ball skills have gotten to the point, back-up quarterback Sage Rosenfels said, "where if you give the guy the chance, he's coming down with the ball more often than not."
Mr. Smith is equally adept lined up outside or in the slot, where he can— and does—make tough catches across the middle. Mr. Thomas said that's another part of Mr. Smith's game that hasn't changed since college. "He'll go up to get a ball and take a hit. He's really making the same plays he made in college."
It's in the way Mr. Smith works his shoulders, moves his hips and uses his "leans." He has what Mr. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] called a great "feel for the game," in that he understands coverages and how to get that separation. And nothing helps his quarterback more than finding that little distance, which makes him a clearer target.
The staffer got a blank look in return. Then an "OK, thanks." [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]