(The Lion) — An all-star offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs says he feels compelled to tell others about the God who saved his life and guided him through dark valleys, time after time.
Kansas City’s Trey Smith told the Sports Spectrum Podcast that God has carried him through life’s darkest valleys – such as when his mother died in 2015, and later when he feared for his own life during a frightening battle with blood clots in college that threatened his future in the sport he loved.
“God didn’t bring me this far for nothing,” Smith said. “I gotta share my testimony to show the power of God – what He can do for other people in their life, and the importance of faith, the importance of fighting through it.”
To casual football fans, Smith is simply the powerful blocker who protects the quarterback – a supporting player to his better-known teammate, Patrick Mahomes. But to devoted football fans, Smith is a standout player in his own right, having helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowls and earning a spot on the 2025 Pro Bowl roster.
This month, Smith became the highest-paid guard in NFL history when he signed a four-year extension that was reported to be worth $94 million.
But at one point not long ago – in 2018, specifically – Smith didn’t know if he would ever play football again. At the time he was a starting lineman for the University of Tennessee with a recent diagnosis of blood clots in his lungs.
“When I got diagnosed for the first time, I was terrified. I was having so many issues breathing. I remember doing conditioning, passing out in a workout,” he told Sports Spectrum.
Another time, Smith struggled to walk to the campus library.
“It was only like 400 yards away. I had to stop multiple times just to catch my breath,” he said.
The medical staff crafted a plan to keep Smith on the field: blood thinners during a no-contact week that would conclude Friday – just one day before game time. Still, Smith understood the gravity of the situation; taking blood thinners in a contact sport meant a heightened risk of internal bleeding – and even death.
He took comfort from Scripture.
“I reflect back on 2019 when I got cleared to finally play, just shaking in my locker room before the season opener, just scared, you know: Am I going to die? God, is this the right decision? Like, is this really what You have in store? And I got a text – Jeremiah, 29:11: ‘For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord our God, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
“And when I got that text, I just read it in my locker and just read it over and over until I got the confidence to go out there and play.”
Smith had made two promises to his mother before she passed away when he was in high school: He would play in the NFL and he would graduate with his degree.
“And I just let that motivate and drive me,” he said.
Smith faced other challenges, too – including a second health scare and then a nerve-wracking NFL draft week in 2021, as team after team passed on him due to concerns about his health. Ultimately, the Chiefs took a chance, selecting him in the sixth round.
Football, though, he said, is small in the grand scheme of life – far behind faith and family.
“God has done so much for me in my life. I want to inspire other people. I want to empower other people to understand that you can do it. You know, it can look dark. It can look like there’s no option out there for you, but like, ‘Hey, dude, there’s a shot – God’s gonna bring you through, man. You got to keep the faith. You got to hold on.”
