Rodney Smith talks life off the football field

CHICAGO – One of the best things about covering the Big Ten media days is extended access to players and coaches in a relaxed setting.

The Gophers had their media sessions on Tuesday and I was able to spend about 30 minutes with star running back Rodney Smith.

It was the longest conversation I've had with Smith and I found his answers to be thoughtful and funny.

Here are a few highlights:

Smith was asked about the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy, which mascot Goldy Gopher introduced in 2014 as a reward to the winner of the Minnesota-Nebraska game.

"It started my redshirt freshman year," Smith said. "I saw it on Twitter. I thought it was a real trophy game because I'm from Georgia. I didn't really know much about the trophy games. It's interesting."

Smith added: "When we had it I don't remember seeing it, now that I think about it."

Smith said he visited East Carolina, Georgia Tech and Georgia when he was in high school.

"Once you see those other schools, you could tell that we're a little bit behind," he said.

On what he liked about Minnesota when he visited: "I fell in love with the city when I got here. Growing up in Georgia, I didn't hear anything about Minnesota. I thought it was country, farmland. I fell in love with the city. And I thought about opportunities after football with all the Fortune 500 companies in the Twin Cities. And I thought it was time for me to grow up as a young man.

On the first time he saw snow: "I was nervous. The first time I saw actual snow, I called [former strength coach Eric Klein] and said, 'It's snowing. What do you want me to do?' He said, 'We still have workouts. What do you mean?' I was like, 'How am I going to get there?' He said, 'You've got to walk.' In Georgia, we get a little bit of ice, everything is canceled.

On the different classes that P.J. Fleck holds for players: "We have classes to help with things outside of football. We have financial class, an etiquette dinner. A swag class, we had stylists come talk to us about dos and don'ts. Like big guys shouldn't wear stripes. Stuff like that. It was helpful. I appreciated it."

Finally, Smith was asked about a report by USA Today that Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany will receive $20 million in "future bonus payments" in the context of an ongoing national discussion about student-athlete benefits and whether they should be paid. Smith paused before answering.