Harrison Smith Talks About His Future
Vikings safety Harrison Smith was a strong retirement candidate in each of the last two offseasons. As he’s getting up there in age, challenging Father Time is getting harder and harder, and he’ll once again be in the spotlight once the 2025 campaign is over.
Harrison Smith Addresses Retirement Decision
Drafted in the first round in 2012, Smith has been the anchor of Minnesota’s secondary ever since. We’re now 13 years and eight months removed from Rick Spielman making the call, and he’s still a significant element in Brian Flores’ unit.
However, he’s 36, and folks have had the mindset that every season could be his last for years. As we’re nearing the end of his 14th NFL season, the retirement question is once again on the table.
After Sunday’s victory in Dallas, Smith was asked by the Sunday Night Football crew about the upcoming decision.
Smith commented, “I’m just enjoying day by day. You know how it is, when you’re getting towards your later years, it’s harder to go to practice, harder to get ready to go every time. On gameday, I always feel ready.”
The future Ring of Honor inductee started his 200th game for the Vikings. He also has eight playoff starts on his resume and another four games coming off the bench. Three of those took place this season, as he was eased in following a mysterious illness that cost him the first two games of the season.
Smith added, “I’ve always been on top of my body — my nutrition. Everything. It’s not fancy or anything, but you stay on top of it — it stacks up over the years.”
Despite his age, he played all 122 defensive snaps during the current two-game winning streak. His season total has reached 633 — and that’s despite two missed games and another three as a rotational piece before he was declared fully “back” in Week 7.
After last year’s playoff defeat, Smith’s emotional locker room comments sounded a lot like he was leaning toward retirement, but he returned for another year in purple.
His latest comments leave the door open for the all-time great to give it another shot. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t feel Smith-like to just announce his retirement when there’s still some football to be played. He has never been in the business of attention-seeking, making his comeback decisions on random March days or announcing contract extensions without much fanfare.
It’s been nearly two years, late in the 2023 season, defensive coordinator Brian Flores said about his player, “He’s very bright, he’s very talented. There is a want-to and a belief in himself and a belief in his skillset. He has really been awesome to work with. I think he’s Hall of Fame-worthy, I think he has already kind of, I don’t want to say cemented that but there should certainly be a conversation around that whenever he decides to move forward.”
Smith has been the backbone of the defensive unit throughout the entire Mike Zimmer tenure, which started with him as a third-year defender. And he is already in his fourth season after his longtime coach was fired in January of 2022.
The immortal Notre Dame alumnus has a ridiculous statistical resume: 204 regular-season games, 38 interceptions (most among active players), 13 forced fumbles, 20.5 sacks, 1,175 tackles, 49 tackles for loss, and four INT-return touchdowns.
He’s still versatile enough to be an important puzzle piece in Flores’ crew, but his diminishing speed has robbed him of the superhuman level of play he was capable of last decade.
Harrison Smith will turn 37 in February, already well past the age when most defensive backs say “goodbye” to the game. Enjoy the next three games because there’s a good chance it’ll be the last of Smith’s NFL journey.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.