PHILADELPHIA -- While Nolan Smith wasn't exactly living through the training montage of Rocky IV, his time in California had a similar goal: Go somewhere where all he could think about was the task at hand.
Smith spent his six weeks between minicamp and training camp in Thousand Oaks, California, a far reach from his hometown of Savannah, Georgia. Smith wanted to go somewhere where he would feel uncomfortable, a place where he could focus on football and nothing else.
There are plenty of distractions in California. But for a player like Smith, he comes from a different style, a different mindset. That suit doesn't fit him.
"I go out to L.A. because I don't fit in," Smith said. "I know I don't fit in, how I talk, how I look at people, and how people look at me. When you open the door for somebody out there they almost step back and look at you crazy.
"I say yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am, and they look at you crazy. But I don't like to fit in, that's why I go out there. I be by my lonesome. You feel like you're on an island just working."
Smith's isolation led him to Proactive Sports Performance in Westlake Village, about 35 minutes from Los Angeles. There he spent his time training with Aaron Rodgers, the only familiar aspect of his trip to California.
"They're used to me. I'm the energy guy, I'm the young guy in the training room," Smith said. "I'm working out with Aaron Rodgers. It's a funny thing because Aaron Rodgers was a senior in high school in 2001 and I wasn't even born. Me and him talked about that.
"He played 20 years in the league. I said, 'You played my lifespan in the league. If there's anything you want to pass on, give it to me.'"
What did Smith learn from Rodgers?
"Just a little bit of wisdom. We were just joking around," Smith said with a smile. "I said, 'Give me some of the snap counts you used back in the day.; He said, 'I know I play you.' I was like, now he knows, because I didn't think he knew I was, but he did."
The generational gap also factored into the conversation. Smith is 23 years old and Rodgers is 40, so there was culture clash.
"He turned out to be a really cool guy. We started talking about age, DMX, and rap music," Smith said. "He said he used to listen to real rap. I said what does that mean? He said it's that mumbo jumbo now.
"I said how old are you? We just went on from there."
The Rodgers conversation aside, Smith wanted to grow. He wanted to do things on his own and develop himself as a person. The journey to Los Angeles helped Smith become better.
"Go read some old books about the cavemen on their own and fire, you learn that use the fire and they didn't have anybody but themselves. They had to cook and clean for themselves, and they were independent. I think that's how we should be nowadays," Smith said.
"That's why we don't have men these days, they just rely on social media, Instagram, and reading about themselves and stuff like that, that's not being a man. Being a man is getting up and going to work every day.
"I know I play football, I'm playing a game I love, but to be able to get up and go to work every day and provide for your family, that's what a real man does."
Many athletes say they're built different, yet Smith can actually hold true to that claim. The six weeks Smith spent in a new environment helped him grow as a football player, evident in his performance on the field through the first week of camp.
Don't worry -- Smith is comfortable in Philadelphia, but likes to beat to the tune of his own drum. Training camp falls right into his element.
"I feel I fit in more, but I usually just stay in my house," Smith said. "I stay in my house, I just play my games, study my playbook, and chill out. I watch all my plays at least twice then go to sleep.
"In camp it's easy. We don't get done til 8, 9 o'clock, so, shoot, by the time I get done I'm already tired, I'm ready to go home."
