Dawuane Smoot, the athlete Part II

You can read part one of our interview with Dawaune Smoot here.

You know Dawuane Smoot...

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ most recent third-round draft pick.

The once-heralded Illini prospect who, at one point, was the No. 5 overall prospect on Todd McShay’s 2016 draft board before deciding to stay in school one more year.

Yeah, that one.

But do you know this Dawuane Smoot? The budding vlogger with a YouTube channel of over 1,000 subscribers? Or the Twitch fantatic who loves challenging fans on Twitter to games of Madden, Fortnite, and PUBG?

I recently got to sit with Dawuane and discuss everything from his offseason schedule to who he plays with on Madden.

Part II of this interview focuses on Dawuane off the field.

Milind Mishra: Switching gears now, what are some things you like to focus on off the field? Are there any charities you work with or any causes you want align with?

Dawuane Smoot: I don’t necessarily have a select charity I want to go for, but I view myself as more of an animal person. I have some charity events in the Jacksonville Humane Society, showing their soft side, and things like that. In April, I’m doing a charity softball game at UCF. I’m also going to Jihad Ward’s football game in Philadelphia in mid-April. Just trying to go out to the community and show that I can help.

MM: Where does vlogging fit into your off the field stuff? What do you hope to accomplish when you turn the camera on?

DS: It gives me a chance to tell my story from my perspective. To show the fans a side of NFL players no one’s really seen— showing them behind-the-scenes things like how we talk in the locker room, our life outside of football. It’s a chance for the fans to get to know me personally. I’m trying to do this until I get bored of this, and I don’t see myself getting bored of this anytime soon.

MM: What goes into starting a YouTube channel? Was there any source of inspiration? Take me through your thought process.

DS: It’s a great tool for fans to be able to see a different life for the players. [The idea] manifested to a point where I felt like— I was talking about it a lot in the locker room— and Eli [Ankou] he actually has a YouTube channel too. When I first brought up the idea, I thought there was a unique niche for it in our profession. Not a lot of guys have vlogging channels. I thought this would be a great chance for me to separate myself and show my stories. When I presented that to Eli, he gave me a lot of encouragement and had a big impact on my decision. Aye, y’all check out my boi Eli too. His vlog is fire.

MM: What’s a day in the life of Dawuane Smoot? Where does gaming fit into your interactions with the fans?

DS: I get up around 10 AM, work out until 11. Then I come home, get my meals, take my protein. If I’m recording or chilling—most of the time I’m playing Madden, Fortnite, or PUBG anyways. I’m starting a Twitch account, so anybody who wants it, they can go ahead and follow my Twitch account [bigsmoot_94]. I play all the fans, I do all that stuff. Honestly, I try to have fun and do different things every day. As far as vlogging, I just record what I’m doing.

MM: I’m sure you play Madden. Do you play as the Jaguars? Have you played as yourself?

DS: I play as the [New Orleans] Saints, but I honestly need to play as the Jaguars because a lot of people use the Jaguars to beat me. Our defense is so overrated on Madden. It’s dope though. It’s just unbelievable how stacked, how strong our defense is. It kinda shows in real life too though, haha.

MM: One final question that I’m sure you’d love to answer: Xbox One or PS4?

DS: Xbox One.