Rod Smith (Late Bloomer)
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Smith has one of the best but easily forgotten rags-to-riches stories in NFL history. He went undrafted after playing his college football at Division 2 Missouri Southern State. He didn’t get his first chance in the NFL until age 25. The first catch of his career was a game-winning Hail Mary catch from John Elway.
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But it wasn’t until two years later in 1997 that he finally burst onto the season with his 1,000-yard season. It would become the first of eight 1,000-yard seasons, including six in a row. Smith and Ed McCaffrey would become one of the most productive but understated receiving tandems in NFL history and a big reason why Elway finished his career with back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
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