A second former NC State defensive star from the last decade has lost his life just a few months after current NFL player, Corey Smith’s life tragically ended in a boating accident off the coast of Florida.
The N&O is reporting that former NC State linebacker, Edrick Smith was killed in car crash in Charlotte early Sunday morning.
CHARLOTTE — A former N.C. State University football player was killed early today when a new Camaro, speeding from 80 to 100 mph, hit the car in which he was riding, according to a police report.
Edrick Smith, 29, was in the back seat of a Honda Accord, which was split in two from the force of the collision at the intersection of North Tryon Street and Salome Church Road.
[snip]
Police say the driver of the Camaro, 30-year-old Hugo Fernando Rosillo, ran from the scene and was tracked down by a CMPD police helicopter and K-9 unit searching nearby woods.
Rosillo, who was alone in the car, was taken to a hospital. He was charged with second-degree murder, felony hit and run and drunken driving.
Also in the Accord were the driver, 30-year-old Hakeem Ward Holloway, and a passenger, 31-year-old Barry Tyrone Pace. They were both hospitalized, police said.
Smith’s wife, Karisa, said that she and the couple’s three children were “holding it together, but I don’t think it’s hit them, as well as me.”
Karisa Smith, who worked with her husband at Nationwide Insurance in Charlotte, called the driver of the Camaro “cowardly” for leaving the scene.
The crash is under investigation by CMPD’s accident reconstruction unit.
Edrick was the quintessential Joe Pate-recruit in the same ‘Alabama-mold’ as two super stars from the same area who followed him to Raleigh – Philip Rivers and Jerricho Cotchery. Not only was he a fantastic football player, but the coaches adored him and one former coach told me at the time that Edrick was one of the nicest players and most respected players to ever don the Wolfpack uniform.
On the field, Smith was a beast from the first moment he stepped on campus and had an amazingly bright future until an untimely injury at the beginning of his sophomore year changed his career. (I know it sounds odd that NC State has ever had a promising athlete experience a career altering injury or misfortune near the pinnacle of their rise to stardom.) In fact, SFN contributor ‘Dogbreath’ named the ‘pre-injured’ Smith to SFN’s “All-Amato 50 Man Roster” in this entry from 2006.
The N&O article states the following:
From North Fork, Ala., Smith set the record in 1998 for tackles by a true freshman. He was on track to be a national defensive standout and NFL prospect when his career was sidelined by an injury.
[snip]
Smith started nine games as a freshman in 1998, and his 94 tackles that season were the most any Wolfpack freshman had made in 11 years. He entered the 1999 season as a candidate for the Butkus Award, given annually to the best linebacker in the nation.
In the season opener that season against Texas, he tore the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in his knee. He was optimistic that he would make an impact again for the Wolfpack. But after returning for the 2000 season, he suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder that limited his contributions.
He didn’t play football in 2001, and then-coach Chuck Amato said he wasn’t sure Smith was ever the same after the injury.
May God show grace and mercy on Edrick’s family and his three children. I certainly hope the Charlotte Chapter of the NC State Alumni Association can find a way to offer support to the Smith family.
