Trey Smith acted quickly while helping others as the shooting broke out at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade on Wednesday, February 14. The NFL player, 24, was quick to help others get to safety as police told them that they had to leave.
While Trey is usually known for his abilities on the football field, he showed that he’s also heroic off the field. He opened up about what he was thinking when the shooting broke out in an interview with ABC News on Thursday, February 15. After the shooting, the lineman said he was angry and hurt for the people that were affected. “I’m pretty angry. Due to senseless violence, someone lost their life …. Children are injured. Children are traumatized,” he told the outlet. “I’m hurting for, one, the families of the people who got impacted, [and two,] the city of Kansas City.”
Get to know more about Trey here.
Trey Carried a Child to Safety as the Shooting Started
Trey said that as the team were stepping off stage after the shooting, security guards told them they needed to evacuate. He said that he and others took shelter in a closet, but first he helped a young fan come with him to safety. “I just remember the security guards ushering us through the doors quickly, saying, ‘Come on, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up,'” he said on Good Morning America. “Right before I run in there, there’s a little kid in front of me so I just grabbed him and yanked him up and said, ‘You’re hopping in here with me, buddy.'”
Trey Helped Calm People Down as They Evacuated
Trey said that while about 20 people were stuck in the closet, his teammate James Winchester also helped calm people down. He said there was another young fan who was having trouble calming down, and Trey gave him an extra special gift. “This little boy was with his father. He was a little hysterical. He just panicked. He was scared. He doesn’t know what’s going on,” he told the outlet. “I had the WWE belt the entire parade and I was thinking, what can I do to help him out? I just handed him the belt and said, ‘Hey buddy, you’re the champion. No one is gonna hurt you. No one’s gonna hurt you, man. We got your back.”
Trey Has Been an Offensive Lineman for the Chiefs Since 2021
Trey got drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, and he’s been a part of the team ever since. During his first season, he made the PFWA All-Rookie team. He’s also won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs, with his first being in 2023, and his most recent one being his latest Super Bowl.
He Played for the University of Tennessee in College
Prior to getting drafted by the Chiefs, Trey had many prospective options for where he would play in college. He ended up choosing the University of Tennessee, where he played from 2017 to 2020.
He’s a Christian
During college, Trey had a health scare involving blood clots. Luckily, he made a full recovery and he credited his faith with part of why he was able to get through the difficult time. “Ultimately, I had to walk by faith and not by sight,” he told KCUR.
In that same interview, he spoke about spending a lot of time in church as a kid, and it helped shape him. “I just remember going to church all the time. My mom was a woman of faith, my dad,” he said. “Being around that environment just sort of molded me in terms of how I thought and how I believed. For me, just thinking about my journey and my story, I know God was a part of it.”
Trey has reiterated that his faith is very strong. His Instagram bio notes that he puts “God First.” He reassured his faith in the above-mentioned interview. “God has a plan and a purpose for me in my life,” he said. “I have to uphold it. I just have to come to work every day and put my head down and be at my best. So for me, just understanding my faith and where it’s brought me thus far, I know God didn’t bring me this far just to let me down