Remember Andre Smith? The guy who went AWOL at the combine. The same guy that completely bombed his pro day. Yeah, he’s the one that got suspended from Alabama’s BCS game. That’s the one.

Well after several months of speculation that Smith had screwed his stock up so much that he went from potential number one overall to out of the first round, the guy miraculously got himself drafted sixth overall, salvaging most of that money he seemingly pissed away.

So how did he do it?

Apparently it started with getting himself a real-life agent, who went on to explain to teams that yes, on his own, Smith can be a loose cannon and a lazy bum. But with a disciplined regime running him, ala Nick Saban, he is a football machine.

Then, Smith weighed in at 337 pounds last week, down from a reported 380 at one point. That was enough for the Cincinnati Bengals to give him a shot.

And really, if any team is going to give you a third, fourth, or seventh chance to redeem yourself, it’s the Bengals.

According to Andre Smith’s new agent, Rick Smith (no relation), Andre saved himself a large chunk of change by not slipping to the end of the first round.

“He was definitely in jeopardy of losing a lot of money. Last year’s 28th pick overall was guaranteed $6,060,000 and got a max of $11.2 million. Last year’s No. 6 pick got a guaranteed $21 million and a maximum of $50 million. That would have been a lot of money to leave on the table.”

That’s a difference of $15 million in guaranteed money and up to $39 million in overall money, for those of you too lazy to do the math. That’s a hefty chunk of change.

So there is a lesson to be learned here somewhere. I think it is that if you are a good college football player, then no matter what you do before the draft — eat, drink, not workout, get fat, get suspended, etc. — you can always make it all up by tricking the Bengals into drafting you.

Well played, Smiths, well played.

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