Jason Smart, brother of Crows champ Nigel Smart, remembers playing footy with no arm
He’s the younger brother of a Crows dual premiership star but Jason Smart, who was born with no arm, forged his own footy path.
- Flagstaff Hill boosts flag hopes with 119-point win
- Noarlunga continues perfect SFL season
- No feet, no worries for Sharks youngster
Jason Smart remembers his footy career with Port Noarlunga, Christies Beach and Kangarilla with pride as someone who handed out as much as he received.
But the 49-year-old says any sledges from opposition players were never taken seriously or personally – even from those who had a crack at him for having only one arm.
Smart, the brother of Crows champion Nigel Smart, was born with his left arm missing.
But said he never considered he was different from other players.
From the early days he was a star, captaining Christies Beach junior teams before heading to Port Noarlunga in 1988 to play seniors when the Saints didn’t have a team he could play in.
Smart estimates he lined up about 60 A grade and 100 B grade games before finishing with a B grade flag with Kangarilla in 2001.
He said he rarely received any favours from opponents.
“The funniest sledge was probably someone calling me one arm,” Smart said.
“That was funny because you could say that was so obvious and correct.
“I played at full back a lot and I would just stand in front of my opponent and look at him. “They called me the Prophet - prophesising just where my opponent would run to.
“In the end no-one wanted to be beaten by a one-arm bastard.”
Smart could master most skills of the game but in his early days his dad was forced to ask the umpires how he could get around handballing.
“I pretty well punched the ball with my stump and that was a bit different but it was the best I could do,’’ Smart said.
“I wasn’t a bad kick, I held the ball in my right hand and kicked with my left leg.
“All I wanted to do was play the game on the same level as everyone else and to be normal.’’
In 1988 Smart was so gifted athletically that he was selected on the Australian Paralympics team which went to Seoul.
He won a gold in the 4x100m relay, breaking a world record in the process.
But as much of a high as that was he made the call to stay with footy, turning his back on possibly shining on the world stage.
He loved following the career of his brother Nigel, ditching his early Richmond allegiance to jump on board with the Crows.
He was front and centre when the team won the 1997 and 98 AFL flags.
These days Smart is a successful businessman as a franchise owner with real estate company Magain where he is a major sponsor with Port Noarlunga Football Club.
