with
Paul Photography
By Madalyn Laske| Photo By J Alan
C
oming out of small town
Wahpeton just 45 minutes
south of Fargo, Ryan Smith
stood at 5’7’’ weighing in at 155
pounds. The odds were against
him for starting at a Division I
school like NDSU. But what Smith
lacked in body type, he made
up for with hard work and a big
appetite for success. Now after
earning three All-Missouri Valley
Football Conference second team
honors, Smith has signed with
the Saskatchewan Roughriders of
the Canadian Football League to
continue his dreams. We chatted
with him about how he did it.
16
BISON ILLUSTRATED