Jaylon Smith embodies the perfect Notre Dame football alumnus

This weekend, Jaylon Smith received his degree from the University of Notre Dame. Smith embodies what people come to expect of Notre Dame football players.

The Notre Dame football program has a couple benchmark goals: Compete for National Championships and graduate its student-athletes. Jaylon Smith is a perfect example of the latter. Before leaving a year early for the NFL Draft, Smith promised his mother that he would finish his degree. He kept that promise.

This weekend, former Notre Dame football linebacker Jaylon Smith was in South Bend to receive his degree from Notre Dame, three years after leaving Notre Dame for the NFL. In receiving his degree, Smith realized a lifelong dream and set an example for anyone who took notice of his achievement.

Enrolling in school after his NFL season ended this winter, Smith took 21 credit hours in South Bend this spring to graduate with a degree in film and television.

The phrase “Notre Dame man” gets thrown around for those who exemplify the mission of the university. Because of his achievements, his perseverance,  and his excellence both on and off a football field, Smith is a perfect example of what it means to be a true Notre Dame man.

In his final game for the Fighting Irish, Smith suffered a gruesome leg injury that kept him from playing in his rookie year in the NFL. Many speculated that Smith would never be the same player and that the explosiveness and speed that he once played with would be all but gone. Once a shoe-in to be a top selection in the NFL Draft, Smith fell to the second round, where the Dallas Cowboys selected him with the 34th overall selection.

Smith never listened to the detractors and non-believers. Three years later, he’s one of the NFL’s most exciting young linebackers. That’s an elite group of people in and of itself.

Now, however, he’s become a part of another elite group of people: Graduates of the University of Notre Dame.

It seems like this is only the beginning for what Smith will do in his career and in the world. He truly embodies what it means to be a Notre Dame man.