Boise State wide receiver Rick Smith is back home in Long Beach, Calif., after an alleged fight with a teammate sent him to the hospital.
Details are scarce right now. So scare, in fact, that most of what we know comes from a GoFundMe page set up a Smith family friend. “Richard Smith... was trying to avoid conflict and walk away from the situation when Rick was assaulted by one of his teammate... which landed him in the hospital in the ICU. Rick is suffering from a skull fracture, brain hemorrhage and his entire brain is swollen,” the page reads.
Virtually nothing on this incident has come out of Boise, with head coach Bryan Harsin practically taking a vow of silence.“Rick’s currently a student-athlete on our team, and that’s where we are. That’s really all I’m going to say about that right now.” - Harsin
— Dave Southorn (@IDS_Southorn) February 19, 2015
The Long Beach Press-Telegram has an explanation for the scene, through an anonymous source:
According to a source close to the family who wished to remain anonymous, Smith and a teammate were playfully slapboxing in the Boise State locker room on Feb. 9. When they were finished, Smith turned to walk away and the teammate allegedly struck him in the back of the head, knocking him into a locker, with Smith then collapsing onto the ground.
Smith was discharged from the hospital, and the family brought him home to southern California for recovery and further evaluation. He spent “a couple days” at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center, and is now settling in for speech and physical therapy and, according to his mother, eight months of no football activity.
The Boise Police and, as stated above, the Boise State football program are both aware of the incident, though neither has offered anything resembling a comment. The Press-Telegram cited a source saying the Smith family plans to press charges against the unnamed assailant.
A product of powerhouse Poly High School, Smith began his career at Arizona State, catching 46 combined passes in 2012-13. He transferred to Boise State prior to the 2014 season and was named the Broncos’ Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year.
