Smith. A pretty common last name, right?

Rick Smith, the General Manager,of the Houston Texans, has that surname, I imagine, one of many people that do. A common name that has produced uncommon results. Not only that, he learned his craft in Denver.

That said, how tough is to stomach that Smith is flourishing in drafting and finding players in Houston, while the team he left behind is struggling in those particular areas?

On Wednesday, he received a contract extension from the organization partly due to his accomplishments. He is the youngest General Manager in the NFL at 38 and with the new deal will be around until he is at least 42 years old.

He spent six years as an defensive assistant with the Broncos then joined the front office. The decisions on players were made by head coach Mike Shanahan and then General Manager Ted Sundquist. Smith was in the room when he was in Denver, now he runs the room in Houston.

He has drafted well. He traded for Matt Schaub, who has been injured, but a big improvement over his predecessor, David Carr.

The bottom line. In 2007, his current team defeated his old team. That was one night. As for one season, the Broncos were 7-9 and the Texans were 8-8 overall last year. Denver has only been worse once under Shanahan (A 6-10 record in 1999) while the Texans have never been better with Smith.

Gary Kubiak might have a little to do with that as well, but at least for a day, Smith gets his due, something that may be slightly overdue.

-"z"