Irish Illustrated insider subscribers.

This is Drew Mentock, and I'm here to bring you the eighth episode from our biweekly podcast series on the feed, Irish Illustrated interviews.

Today, we're sharing my conversation with linebacker Jalen Smith, a high school and collegiate Buccas Award winner, a two-time All-American at

Notre Dame and a 10-year NFL veteran. He played for the Fighting Irish from 2013 to 2015,

leading Notre Dame in tackles and havoc plays in his final season as a junior, a campaign that

ended with the trip to the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State.

Unfortunately, in the loss of the Buckeyes, Smith also suffered a devastating entry,

tearing his ACL and LCL, and enduring significant nerve damage in his knee.

As a result, he fell from a projected top five pick to an early second round selection,

with several teams unsure if he'd be able to play football ever again. Nevertheless, Smith persevered. After sitting out his rookie year

with the Dallas Cowboys, he returned to the gridiron a season later and eventually became a

pro bowler in the midst of a decade-long NFL career.

Our conversation covers all that and goes all the way back to his prep career in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Plus, we dive into how he overcame his injury and how he's currently investing in the South Bend community.

Here's my interview with Jalen.

What's up everybody? I'm here with Jalen Smith. He played a nerdame for three seasons, won the high school and collegiate Buccas Award went on and

played in the NFL for 10 years. You're a 2019 Pro Bowl player, 2020 top 100 NFL player.

You're also a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and do a bunch of other things off the field.

Thank you so much for being with me here today.

Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Andrew. I'm super excited to be on the show. Let's do it.

So I start off by asking all my guests kind of how they first heard about Nordame, not even just maybe when they started recruiting you, but what's, I know you didn't grow up too far away in Fort Wayne, Indiana,

but what's your first, like, recollection of the university or football team?

...