In his two-bedroom apartment on Jamesville Road, roughly three miles from Manley Field House, Derrell Smith finally found the breakthrough he was looking for. It was about 2 a.m., but he called his best friend Bruce Williams.
“Yo, come over,” Smith remembered telling Williams. “We got a winner.”
Judging by the tone of Smith’s voice, Williams knew it was serious. It was 2013, roughly one year since Smith retired from the NFL. Williams rushed over to Smith’s apartment, dipped a meatball into sauce, and indulged.
“I’m going to sell this one day,” Smith said as his former Syracuse teammate’s eyes lit up with delight.