SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Torrey Smith recalls having guns drawn on him by police officers on three different occasions growing up. He remembers having his car searched on the side of the road because he had an inspection sticker that just failed because of faulty windshield wipers.
He watched his mother, Monica Chante Jenkins, spend six months in jail after a domestic violence dispute with her daughter-in-law that turned violent. He has observed what his wife, Chanel, dealt with as a schoolteacher.
So when you see the Carolina Panthers wide receiver in a T-shirt such as the #SchoolsNotPrisons one he recently wore during practice, it's not simply because he wants to promote social issues.