Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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His mom, Rose Matamoros, added: “The fact that he’s home in New Orleans and playing against the team his dad used to play for and he’s turning 21 in his hometown … it’s crazy how it all came together like this.”
Smith, Jr., was born in New Orleans but moved to Phoenix soon after. He returned to the Big Easy for his high school years, where he was a prep star at Brother Martin High School.
The Smith family has a special connection to the city; the Saints selected Irv Smith, Sr., with the 20th overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft after his standout career at Notre Dame.
The elder Smith’s first preseason game also was in New Orleans, and at the same stadium (the Superdome), but 26 years before his son’s debut.
The homecoming weekend was a big deal for the family that likes to say that New Orleans is all about family, food and football.
“Some people just think it’s Bourbon Street and it’s fun and all that,” Smith, Jr., said. “But it also has a lot of culture, and it’s something special. The people are so welcoming and open. It’s a place like no other. It shaped me to the man I am.”
The festive atmosphere of the city was on display on the night of April 26, when the Smith family had a crawfish boil with more than 50 pounds of the popular Southern food, and the Vikings picked Smith, Jr., with the 50th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.