Torrold DeShaun “Rod” Smart is better known as “He Hate Me,” especially in XFL circles.
Smart grew up in Lakeland, Florida, attending Lakeland High School, where he played football as both running back and a cornerback for the football team, and ran for the track team.
Smart attended Western Kentucky University, completing his time with the Hilltoppers ranked tenth all-time in school history with 2,305 rushing yards on 356 carries with 21 touchdowns, and 115 receiving yards, 279 kickoff return yards, and 14 yards on punt returns. In his senior year (1999) he started all 11 games and was a first-team All-Gateway Conference selection. Smart led the team with 1,249 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns on 188 carries, for a 6.4 yard average, while his all purpose yards and rushing yards ranked fifth and sixth respectively in school history for a single season.
Smart was also a member of the track team at Western Kentucky, where he specialized in the 60 meters and 100 meters. He graduated with a degree in kinesiology.
San Diego Chargers
Smart signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2000. He finished training camp with the team, but was released by the Chargers prior to the start of the 2000 NFL season.
Las Vegas Outlaws
Smart joined the XFL’s Las Vegas Outlaws in the spring of 2001, earning the moniker “He Hate Me” on the back of his uniform. He finished the season second in the league in rushing yards with 555. During his one and only XFL season, he also finished third in average rushing yards (3.8 yards per carry) and scored three touchdowns. He was the Outlaws’ leading rusher and second-leading receiver, with 27 catches for 245 yards.
While most of the roughly 300 players who donned an XFL uniform during the league’s lone 2001 season saw the league primarily as a tool to advance their individual careers in the hopes of returning to the NFL, Smart wholeheartedly embraced the league’s approach to football and sports entertainment. Smart indicated in the documentary This Was the XFL that if the league had survived for a second season, he would have returned and had no intention of trying out for an NFL or CFL position when the XFL folded.
“He Hate Me”
“He Hate Me”was the phrase Smart chose to place on the back of his Las Vegas Outlaws football jersey. Unlike most sports leagues, the XFL allowed players to embroider whatever wording on their shirts. The Outlaws were playing in the league’s first nationally televised game, which would end up being the most watched as the league’s viewership plummeted after that. The league’s video game-like camera angles meant Smart’s jersey was prominently featured on the telecasts. it was the XFL’s best-selling jersey.
Smart explained the origin of the grammatically non-standard phrase in a January 30, 2004 article with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as, “Basically, my opponent is going to hate me. After I win, he’s gonna hate me. It is what it is. It’s a saying I was saying when I’d feel something wasn’t going my way. For example, (when) I was on the squad in Vegas and coach was putting other guys in, (if) I felt I’m better than them, you know, hey, ‘he hate me.’ See what I’m saying? Give me a chance. That’s all I ask. It came from the heart. Within. The way I felt. I feel as if everyone hates me, from my mom to my dad and even my brothers and sisters everyone “Hates Me”. My buddy Greg Kates always used to use it, so I took it from him.”
Smart stated he originally planned to use a different nickname on the back of his jersey every week of the season but abandoned that plan when “He Hate Me” became popular. He and his agent both credited the nickname with getting NFL scouts to take notice once his XFL career ended.
When Smart and the Outlaws played divisional rival the Los Angeles Xtreme, two Xtreme players put “I Hate He” and “I Hate He Too” on the back of their jerseys to express their disdain for Smart. In a later game between those two teams, those two players changed their nicknames to “Still Hate He” and “Still Hate He Too”. The nickname was more than memorable for Smart’s future Carolina Panthers teammate Jake Delhomme, who named one of his thoroughbreds, “She Hate Me”, and for move director Spike Lee who named his 2004 film She Hate Me.
Edmonton Eskimos
After the end of the XFL season Smart signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL) where he played one pre-season game before being released in August 2001.
Philadelphia Eagles
On October 2, 2001, Smart joined the Philadelphia Eagles’ practise squad. On November 19, 2001, he joined the active roster and played six regular season games, mostly on special teams, rushing for six yards on two carries. After 2001, the Eagles released Smart.
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers grabbed Smart off waivers in September 2002. He led the Panthers in special teams tackles with 24. He recorded the second-most special team tackles in a season with at least one in 14 games.
Smart played all 16 Panthers games again in 2003. He returned kicks and covered special teams for the first time in a Panthers uniform. On October 5, 2003, against the New Orleans Saints, he scored a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown. He blocked his first punt and ended second on the Panthers’ 2003 special teams with 14 tackles. He caught three passes for 11 yards and ran 20 times for 49 yards. Through his efforts on special teams the Panthers ranked seventh in the NFL on kickoff coverage. Smart returned four punts for 74 yards in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
In 2004, Smart averaged 21.1 yards on eight kickoff returns for 169 yards, with a 33-yard return. He received one pass for five yards and ran three times for four yards. However, an injury ended Smart’s 2004 season. The Panthers placed him on injured reserve with a left knee injury on November 3, 2004.
In 2005, Smart returned to the Panthers healthy, played 12 games, and led the team with 29 kickoff returns for 615 yards (21.2 yard average). He had nine kick coverage tackles and one fumble recovery for the Panthers. Panthers released Smart on March 1, 2006, after four seasons.
Oakland Raiders
On May 4, 2006, Smart signed with the Oakland Raiders as a free agent. Being injured for part of the 2006 pre-season, he failed to make the final, 53-man Raiders roster on September 2, 2006.
All American Football League
Smart was selected by Team Tennessee during the inaugural draft of the All American Football League on January 26, 2008. However, when the league was postponed for its inaugural season, all players were released from their contracts, leaving him a free agent.
Post-Football
After being released by the Oakland Raiders, Smart became a personal trainer, before appearing in the independent film Don’t Blame The Lettuce. He currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and works as a high school guidance counselor. Smart also owns his own business, SmartSize.
On June 18, 2019, Lancaster County, South Carolina, sheriff’s deputies declared Smart “missing and endangered” after his family reported that his whereabouts had been unknown since June 12. He was reported by the sheriff’s office as having been found safe later the same day he was reported missing.
