A friend of Vashonda Davis texted her last weekend asking if her son, former Meridian High School quarterback J’Mar Smith, had been signed by the New England Patriots.

Davis’ friend was a Patriots fan and heard the Patriots signed Smith following the conclusion of the 2020 NFL Draft. Davis told her friend she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to ask Smith because she wasn’t sure of his mindset at the time. Instead, Davis said she FaceTimed her son just to strike up a conversation and asked if he had spoken to his agent.

“With a smirk on his face the entire time, he was like, ‘Yes,’” Davis recalled. “So I’m giving him the look like, ‘OK.’ He told me that I must not have checked my phone, and I’m like, ‘No!’ So I hung up, and there it was.”

She saw an alert saying the Patriots had indeed signed her son, opening the door to an opportunity with the NFL, something that has been a goal of Smith’s ever since he was young. 

“My daughter and I screamed and hollered, then we went to my parents’ house to wait on him,” Davis said.

Smith is a 2015 graduate of MHS and played college football at Louisiana Tech before the Patriots signed him as an undrafted free agent. For Davis, seeing her son have a chance to play football at the highest level is indescribable. 

“While there aren’t words that can really express how I feel, just seeing him get this opportunity to play in the NFL is not only exciting for him and our family but also a blessing,” Davis said.

For those who coached him, it hasn’t come as a surprise. James Miller, who was an assistant coach at MHS when Smith played for the Wildcats, said it was apparent Smith was special by the time he reached the ninth grade. An injury to the Wildcats’ starting quarterback during Smith’s 10th-grade year thrust Smith into the starting role, and Miller said the team didn’t miss a beat.

“It was one of those things that when it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” Miller said. “He jumped in there, and we won like four or five games straight. … He has everything you want in a quarterback: confidence, accountability, intelligence, decision-making and, of course, the ability to throw.”

Miller said Smith was a student of the game during his time at MHS and would often game-plan with the coaching staff on Sundays.

“He was a coach on the field for us, and that comes from growing up with an NFL background with his dad (former defensive lineman Kenny Smith),” Miller explained. “His mother is a football fanatic, and his grandfather was very athletic. When you have family support like that, you’re going to be successful. I always laugh when I talk to him, and I tell him that I’ve never seen him frustrated over anything. All he would do is look at us and say, ‘I got you,’ and that’s what you want to hear. That’s what leaders do.”

MHS athletic trainer Chad Acton, who worked with Smith leading up to the draft, said he wasn’t surprised that Bill Belichick and the Patriots signed Smith. Like Miller, Acton said he knew Smith would be a special player ever since Smith was in middle school.

“He had the God-given ability but also the humbleness and a tough work ethic,” Acton recalled. “He was just a good kid and a natural leader, and people would flock to him.”

In addition to arm strength and foot speed, Acton said Smith’s intelligence makes him well-suited for the quarterback position.

“He doesn’t get credit for how smart he is,” Acton explained. “He sees stuff really quickly and adapts, and his arm strength from high school and college is like night and day. My boys were out there running routes with him, and he’s zipping them in there, and you can hear it come out of his hands. Very rarely do you see that, where you can hear that spin.”

Smith joins former MHS teammates Travis Reed and Raekwon Davis in having an NFL opportunity as Reed signed with the Indianapolis Colts and Davis was selected by the Dolphins in the second round of the draft. Acton said it’s special watching three Meridian guys get a chance at their dream, and he hopes more local athletes will follow in their footsteps.

“You see kids that break their heart because they had the potential but didn’t want to play sports, and then there are the kids who work hard but don’t get there,” Acton said. “Honestly, seeing these guys have success, it almost makes all the bad news go away.”

Miller said he’s looking forward to seeing what Smith can do with the Patriots.

“We all kind of knew he was going to have this opportunity, but to see it become a reality, I’m excited for the kid and his family,” Miller said. “To be honest with you, the sky is the limit for him, and that’s not just in football but in life.”