Torrey Smith had a rollercoaster rookie season.
The Ravens' wide receiver was called a "bust" on sports talk radio after dropping a couple balls in a preseason game. He went on to set a Ravens rookie touchdowns record.
The 2011 second-round pick passed along the lessons he learned from that experience to rookies from around the league Wednesday as a speaker at the NFL Rookie Symposium in Berea, Ohio.
"My talk was on dealing with the highs and lows of the league," Smith said. "It's the expectations of the media and the fans. They'll love you one minute, they'll hate you the next. You've got to learn how to balance that."
Smith got a call from the league asking if he wanted to speak at the conference. He ran it by General Manager Ozzie Newsome, who thought it would be a good idea.
"I was honored," Smith said. "The NFL picked me of all those rookies [from last year]. It's pretty cool. I just wanted to share everything from my rookie experience."
Smith didn't have the advantage of an NFL Rookie Symposium last year, as the league was in a lockout. The NFL Players Association held its own event in Bradenton, Fla.
Besides just speaking, Smith is also taking away some tips from this year's symposium.
"Woke up feeling refreshed and motivated!!" Smith tweeted Thursday morning. "Had a great conversation about life with the McCourty twins, Hardy Nickerson, Aeneas Williams."
The McCourty twins are Patriots cornerback Devin and Titans cornerback Jason. Nickerson was a linebacker for 16 seasons (1987 to 2002) and Williams was a cornerback from 1991 to 2004.
All eight of the Ravens' draft picks are at the conference, as well as Ravens Director of Player Development Harry Swayne. They will be there until Saturday, and will conclude the trip with a visit to the Hall of Fame in nearby Canton, Ohio.
Fifth-round cornerback Asa Jackson said the rookies got a speech about selectively choosing the people in their life, and about how to manage their money, on the their first day Wednesday. Jackson said he especially enjoyed Smith's talk.
"You need to learn how to not get too high or too low because your rookie year is really the longest of your life," Jackson said.
"As much as I want to go home, I'm really looking forward to seeing my other rookie friends I haven't seen in a long time, and it will be a good week to learn some stuff that I can take away to have a great rookie season."
