Skyline product Smith, retires from NFL

By Felicia
Sports in the Bay

He started his prep career wearing the Skyline Titan colors of red and white he would end his professional career doing so.

After two Super bowl rings, one Pro Bowl visit and nine years in the league, the San Francisco 49ers recently announced that newly acquired tackle Marvel Smith (#71) has made the decision to retire.

Smith, an Oakland native who spent his whole career with the Pittsburg Steelers, was signed as a free agent by the 49ers this past spring and has battled back injuries for the later part of his career.

“I would like to thank Marvel for his service to the 49ers organization over the last several months,” said head coach Mike Singletary. “Marvel and I have spoken, and I know that this was not a decision he took lightly. We appreciate that he came to us when he did with this decision, and wish him well in the next chapter of his life.”

A product of Skyline High in Oakland, Smith lettered in football and was a two-time All-City selection, earning a Division I-A scholarship to Arizona State University in 1995 becoming the school’s first lineman to receive a Division I-A scholarship.

Pittsburgh’s second round pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, Smith, 31, had one Pro Bowl selection (2004) and started 108 of the 111 regular season games that he appeared in with the Steelers, where he played his entire career prior to signing with San Francisco in March.

Sports in the Bay wishes Smith all the best as he enters the second chapter of his life!