ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Each season the NFL awards the Salute to Service Award to a player, coach, staff or alumni who honors and supports the military. This year’s nominee from the Buffalo Bills is Special Teams Coordinator Matthew Smiley, an Air Force veteran.
Fans can vote for Smiley until November 30.
"Having the opportunity to serve in the Air Force, it was the concept of ultimate teamwork, and working for a great purpose," said Smiley.
"I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force," explained Smiley. "I was a maintenance officer, and I was commissioned in the spring of 2001."
Smiley was based in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and started his service just a few months before 9/11.
"Pretty shortly after [9/11] started deploying all over the globe, it got real busy real quick," said Smiley.
He was deployed to Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and the tiny island of Diego Garcia, supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Smiley worked on KC-135 tankers, the same plane his father John Smiley flew as an Air Force pilot.
"That's the plane I was assigned to as a maintenance officer, that's coincidentally the same plane my dad flew," said Smiley.
While a student at the University of Illinois, Smiley was influenced to join the ROTC by his father.
"I knew that ROTC was a chance to pay for school, and my dad being in the Air Force at the time said, 'Hey, check this out see if this is something you'd be interested in,'" explained Smiley. "I was able to get a scholarship through ROTC to pay for school."
Smiley was also a walk-on wide receiver at Illinois but had a love for coaching.
"[Coach] came to me in the offseason after my sophomore year and said, 'Do you really want to coach?' I said yeah I really do, I'll help with anything,'" said Smiley. "They said well we have an actual spot for you, but you got to quit playing and be an actual coach as a junior in college, and I said, that sounds phenomenal!'"
Smiley began helping special teams at Illinois as an undergraduate, that's where he learned how to work with kickers and punters. So when he was stationed in Grand Forks, and not on deployment, he offered help to the nearby University of North Dakota.
"The Air Force liked that I was helping with the local college football team, and college football team loved there was an Air Force officer helping out," explained Smiley. "My boss let me work night shift on base, so I would do night shift, and then be free in the afternoons to go help with practice."
After four years of service and four deployments, Smiley received the United States Air Force Commendation Medal for his service.
"Knowing you were able to do a small part to help guys either have success in a mission, or be safe in a mission that was a big deal to know you're a part of that," said Smiley.
Smiley went on to coach at Dartmouth in 2005, then Eureka College, Eastern Illinois, and Charleston Southern, in 2013 he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as an assistant special teams coordinator in the NFL. In 2017 he went to Orchard Park to join the Buffalo Bills as an assistant special teams coordinator, before becoming the special teams coordinator.
He has become a beloved member of the Bills locker room for the service he provided for the country, and on the field. Smiley is reminded of his service during the National Anthem before every game.
"That's one of my favorite parts of the day, I always stand next to Reid Ferguson," said Smiley about the pregame National Anthem. "It's not the start of a football game, it's a completely stand-alone event."
"I always tell the guys before we start, sing if you know it," said Smiley. "Being able to sing with those guys, and stand with those guys, and just enjoy the National Anthem...I think about the guys I served with. I think about people like my dad who served before me...We just got to appreciate the opportunity that not only can we do the job we're doing as coaches and players, but there's a stadium of 80,000 people that are just there to enjoy the day, the weather and the sport, because they live in a free country that allows them to make those choices."
USAA, a partner in the NFL’s Salute to Service Award, will contribute $25,000 in the recipient’s name to official aid societies representing all U.S. military branches. In addition, the NFL will also donate $25,000 to the winner’s military or veteran charity of choice.
