This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
For the kid called Fish, there was a time — before he followed his older brother to Utah, before the brothers both became stars, and before he grew up to be a dazzling, state-championship quarterback — that his game was basketball.
It had to be.
Growing up on the hardscrabble streets of Baltimore, Anthony "Fish" Smithson would grab two dollars and head to the courts and issue a challenge. He shot hoops for money. Two dollars became four. Then six.
Fish became Swish.
"One time I had like $8," Smithson said, "and I thought I was so rich."
Not rich, but able to buy dinner.
This was the life of one of the state's best high school quarterbacks before his older brother — a kid called Shaky — decided to sign with the University of Utah and bring his younger brother with him. Fish — the nickname came from a grandmother, and he keeps the story behind it a secret — did a report on the state of Utah in the eighth grade, but didn't even know if the Utes played Division 1 football.
With Shaky Smithson now in the Green Bay Packers' camp, fighting to make it in the NFL, it's only football and stability that keep is younger brother in Utah, where he lives with a teammate and plans for his future — starting with football season.
By the time he came to Utah in 2009, Smithson and his family had moved half a dozen times. They would settle in one Baltimore neighborhood only to move on to another. There wasn't much money, and Smithson was a brawler. With four sisters, he felt like he had to be.
He said leaving his mother, Lori, when he moved to Utah was the hardest thing he's ever done.
In his first season at Highland, Smithson displayed loads of talent as the junior varsity quarterback but possessed a frustrating work ethic, according to Rams coach Brody Benson. Early that year, Benson asked his future quarterback, then a sophomore, what he liked best about living in Utah.
"I can still remember this," Benson said this week, as two-a-day practices started for the Rams. "He said it was safe."
Since he left Maryland, Smithson said, friends back home have been shot and killed. Others are in jail.
Here, though, Smithson has thrived. He started last season as the No. 4 quarterback on Highland's depth chart. By mid-season he was starting, scrambling around the field in the familiar Smithson way, lobbing passes to sure-handed receivers and leading Highland to an improbable 4A state football championship.
Now a senior, Smithson will be one of the primary playmakers in Highland's offense, along with Michigan-bound running back Sione Houma. Benson said some college coaches have been around, including Utah's, wondering if Fish might have Shaky's star power — despite the fact he is undersized at 5-foot-9 and is probably best suited to play cornerback in college.
"If it's me and I'm a betting man," Benson said, "I'm going to take a chance on the kid."
Smithson spent much of the last year wondering if he would even be able to remain at Highland. With Shaky Smithson surely headed to an NFL town, would Fish stay here? He flew to Baltimore for a custody hearing. Finally, Shaky was granted full custody and was able to transfer temporary guardianship to the family of Highland safety Wil Nielson — Fish's best friend on the team.
"I wanted to be here," Smithson said, "because I would have felt real selfish if I would have just left for my senior year and just left my teammates out there."
Instead, Smithson has been out there each day this summer, leading a focused Highland team driven by aspirations of matching last year's success. This is his team.
And football is his game. For the kid called Fish, it has to be.
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Fish Smithson file
• Highland Rams quarterback
• The younger brother of former University of Utah star Shaky Smithson
• Began last season as Highland's fourth quarterback, but took over for the final nine games en route to the 4A state championship.