“They Can Be Fatal”: Chiefs Guard Trey Smith Recalls Doctors Finding Blood Clots in Both Lungs

In the last decade or so, there have been few, if any, Kansas City Chiefs players who have managed to appear with the same regularity as Patrick Mahomes. Trey Smith would be one of them.

Since his rookie debut in 2021, the two-time Pro Bowler has only missed six starts, making him one of the unsung heroes of the NFL’s latest dynasty. Casual fans outside of Chiefs Kingdom likely aren’t very familiar with the former sixth-round draft pick.

Even if they do, not many would know the harrowing story about how his NFL dreams almost came to an end before they had even started. During what should have been a routine offseason training session for him at the University of Tennessee, Smith suddenly felt like he was “dying.”

“I can’t stand up straight. I can barely catch my breath. I’m like ‘Damn. Am I that out of shape? What is going on?’ …I lost 13 pounds in a day. I feel horrible… I remember getting that call. The team doctor was like ‘Hey, man. Wherever you are at, stay right there. We’re going to rush you to the hospital,‘” recalled the two-time Super Bowl champion lineman.

Within a few hours after that phone call, Smith was diagnosed with blood clots in both his lungs. He recalled that the doctor informed him that “they can be fatal,” and that it was “good that we caught them when we caught them.”

But even that bit of good news was still undercut by the fact that his case was deemed to be a rather severe one. However, Smith remained undeterred, and he pursued his goal of making it to the NFL.

“I just remember thinking at the time, almost ignorantly, like ‘Will I still be able to play football?'” said Smith. “Like, what’s my timeline for getting back?”

Smith, however, admitted that once the doctor had reiterated the gravity of the situation to him, he immediately grasped the seriousness. Thankfully, for both his own sake and that of the Chiefs, he was able to make a full recovery, and there were no health issues to be found by the time that the franchise selected him with the 226th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The rest, as they say, is history. Smith has since managed to blossom into a consecutive Pro Bowler in 2024 and 2025. He even secured himself a four-year, $94-million extension last summer.

At the time, that deal was enough to make him the highest-paid guard in professional football. And given the amount of production that Smith has been able to churn out in Kansas City, as well as the adversity that he was forced to overcome before he even entered the league, he deserves every last penny.