Long road leads to glory for Cardinals' Antonio Smith

Antonio Smith is giving his camcorder a serious workout.

And why not?

This week, the Oklahoma City native-turned-Arizona Cardinals-star is smack in the middle of the madness that is the Super Bowl. The hype machine. The media mania. The football nirvana.

Smith wants to remember everything.

This, after all, is the ultimate destination on a journey that has been anything but easy. What began in a tough part of town that sometimes turned dangerous passed through football’s valleys before reaching its peaks. Many times Smith could’ve decided the path was too difficult.

He never did.

"I appreciate every step that I took,” Smith said earlier this week. "I think everything that happened to me on my path happened for a reason, and it was just for this moment.”

Smith never dreamed of gridiron glory growing up on the northwest side of Oklahoma City. He didn’t even start playing football until his freshman year at John Marshall High School.

By his senior year, Smith’s potential was obvious even though his skills were raw. He was big and strong but played with great speed and high energy, a great combination for a defensive end.

Some recruiters came calling, but a low ACT score kept most away. Junior college became Smith’s only option.

He accepted it.

"I think he saw the big picture,” said Dan Cocannouer, then the coach at John Marshall, now at Southwestern Oklahoma State. "He could go on and better himself, or he could stay where he was.

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