City mourns Saints player as questions over death remain

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — People across Louisiana sought Monday to process the news that one of the Saints' much-loved players, former defensive end Will Smith, was shot in the back Saturday night in what police called a deadly act of road rage.

Smith, 34, arrived in New Orleans in 2004 as a No. 1 draft pick and played with such passion and power that he quickly became a defensive captain.

Off the field, he won hearts in his adopted city, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and rejuvenated when the Saints won the Superbowl in 2009.

Police said Cardell Hayes, a former semi-pro football player, rear-ended Smith's Mercedes G63 with his Humvee H2, pushing Smith's big, blocky SUV into a Chevrolet Impala carrying Smith's acquaintances, before Hayes opened fire.

The Queens, New York native came to New Orleans from Ohio State where he was on the 2002 national championship team, and quickly became a team leader, Saints' play-by-play announcer Jim Henderson said Monday.

Smith created his share of football highlights, particularly in the 2009 run to the Super Bowl, when he had 13 regular-season sacks — fifth best in the NFL that year.

The Superdome, initially a refuge for thousands of people whose homes were submerged, was badly damaged.

Local radio broadcaster and talk show host Eric Asher said Smith became a locker room leader after the storm, convincing others that the 2006 season under new coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees was about more than getting more wins on the field.

The league concluded that he and fellow defensive captain Jonathan Vilma helped run a locker-room pool paying cash bonuses for heavy and even injurious hits.

[...] before that season began, Smith was indicted on misdemeanor charges of domestic abuse battery and public intoxication after officers saw him grab his wife's hair in an argument.