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LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes hail Alabama hero DeVonta Smith

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 12 Jan 2021

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LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes were among the stars to wax lyrical over DeVonta Smith, who said Alabama “finished writing our story” in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Heisman trophy winner Smith was in sensational form at Hard Rock Stadium in top-ranked Alabama’s (13-0) 52-24 rout of Ohio State (7-1) on Monday.

The exciting wide receiver, who is NFL bound for the 2021 season, had 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half as Alabama claimed a 35-17 lead at the interval.

The 22-year-old recorded 200-plus receiving yards and three or more touchdown catches for the third time this season, tying Davante Adams (2013) for the most such games by any FBS player in the last 25 seasons, according to Stats Perform.

Smith also broke the South Eastern Conference’s single-season receiving yards record as he was named Offensive Most Valuable Player.

What was most impressive is the fact Smith missed the majority of the second half with a right hand injury, though he said after the game “I’ll be alright” when asked about the issue.

Speaking about the achievement, in quotes reported by ESPN, Smith said: “It came down to the young guys just putting in the work, every day, every week, knowing if somebody went down, they were going to have to come in and do something big. 

“I believed in them from the jump. That’s what we do, that is why you come to Bama.

“Just with COVID and everything going on it made things tough, made us more together as a team, be there for each other. This team is like no other.

“It’s been an unbelievable [season]. We just finished writing our story, that was the whole thing of us coming back, just finishing the story that we wanted to write and we did that.”

Social media was abuzz watching Smith’s performance, with Los Angeles Lakers superstar James hailing the youngster on Twitter.

“DeVonte Smith is one of the best pure receivers I’ve ever watched! Like a mix between Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison. Man he’s good!” James wrote.

Mahomes, who led the Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl glory last season, merely posted: “Lol they just need to put like everybody on him”.

After seeing his record tied, Adams joked: “From now on if u misspell my name make sure it’s Devonta cuz he that boy.”

J.J. Watt added: “DeVonta is going crazyyyyyy!!!!!!!”

The win saw head coach Nick Saban win a seventh college title, surpassing Paul Bryant for the most national championships, with six of those titles coming during his 14 seasons at the helm of Alabama.

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