Purdue safety Simeon Smiley quickly recovers after scary collision

• The Florida native missed one game after colliding with teammate Tim Cason against Northwestern
• Smiley's fourth-quarter interception at Nebraska helped the Boilermakers secure the victory
• Made seven tackles with one pass breakup in four games
• Is the team's No. 1 nickel back in passing situations

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Some details are vivid. Others remain fuzzy.

But this is what Simeon Smiley does remember. He didn’t lose his left eye on Aug. 30 in the season opener against Northwestern, despite what was being posted on social media sites that night.

“I gained 1,000 followers in two weeks because of the video on YouTube,” Purdue’s sophomore safety said. “They thought I lost my eye.”

Instagram. Twitter. The story took off, regardless if it was true or not. Don’t let the facts get in the way of a compelling story.

“They were asking, ‘Do you have a prosthetic eye?’ ” Smiley recalled, laughing.

The collision between Smiley and teammate Tim Cason was uncomfortable to watch as the two ran into each other in the middle of the field. Cason was fine. Smiley wasn’t. Blood dripped from around his eye and his mouth.

Smiley immediately ripped off his helmet and laid flat on the turf in pain. Purdue’s athletic training staff rushed to his aid, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

It was ugly. Smiley was carted off, both eyes shut, and no one knew how long it would be before Smiley returned. The rest of the game wasn’t the question. How many games would Smiley miss this season?  

Two weeks later as the Boilermakers faced Missouri, Smiley was in his nickel position as the fifth defensive back, a surprise development to nearly everyone. That’s quite a turnaround after that horrific collision. 

“That was a pretty scary injury,” reserve safety Brennan Thieneman said. “I still don’t understand how he got hit in the eye when he had a visor on.”

He’s not alone.

Smiley doesn’t know. Jeff Brohm was equally puzzled how Smiley received the cut. The television view doesn’t provide a clear answer. Cason probably could shed some information, but the Journal & Courier was denied a request to interview the fifth-year senior cornerback about what happened on the play.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. That’s the mystery. I was out of it,” Smiley said.

Smiley received six stitches and sustained a concussion. The concussion is what kept Smiley out of practice and out of the Eastern Michigan game.

Two days before Purdue was set to host Missouri, the 6-foot, 205-pound Smiley was on the practice field. More than 48 hours later, he was lined up against the Tigers.

“You never know with concussions,” co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter said. “It was nip and tuck with him. He came back, and all the doctors said he was cleared to go. He’s done a nice job.”

Here’s what Smiley remembers about the play.

He was lined up over Kyric McFowan, one of Northwestern’s slot receivers. Meanwhile, Cason was on the opposite side, defending receiver Bennett Skowronek.

The routes run by McFowan and Skowronek brought them into the middle of the field, about 10 yards from the line of scrimmage when quarterback Clayton Thorson unleashed his pass.

“He ran a slant and I was trying to cut it off and Tim just happened to be in his coverage, too,” Smiley said, trying to recount the details. “It seemed like their guys ran the wrong route, but they were on the wrong levels.

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“From the video, it looks like his elbow got in my facemask, but I don’t recall. I don’t know. They can’t figure out how my face got so jacked up.”

Members of Smiley’s family were in attendance, including his dad, Anthony. Once he was taken to the training room, Smiley was on the phone with his mother.

“My mom called me crying. I couldn’t control my emotions and I said, ‘Dad take the phone,’ ” he said. “He takes the phone and they stitched me up right then and cleaned it off. That was the first time ever getting stitches.”

Smiley sat in the training room, watching the game with “one eye.”

He was placed in concussion protocol. Plenty of sleep, but no video games – he claims to be one of the team’s best Fornite players - or watching a lot of television and limited time on his phone. He had to check in with the athletic training staff every day.

“You had to tell them what’s going on in your head,” he said.

His left eye didn’t open for about a week.

“I was a pirate for about five days,” Smiley said.

He returned to the Football Performance Complex and started interacting with his teammates, waiting for the moment he was cleared. Poindexter even caught a glimpse of Smiley.

“He looked terrible. He looked awful. He looked like he had been in a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson,” Poindexter said, laughing.

His return was designed to help boost the defense – and the secondary – that has struggled to defend the pass. Missouri put up big numbers behind quarterback Drew Lock in the passing game four weeks ago, but the Boilermakers are showing signs of improvement in this area.

“He’s a good cover guy,” Poindexter said. “We can put him on a good matchup every week and that allows us to move some other pieces around because of the versatility. We can play most of the guys we need on the field in three or four different spots.”

If Smiley wasn’t 100 percent, he wouldn’t be back. He had a fourth-quarter interception in the win over Nebraska, slowing down the Huskers’ offense at a critical juncture.  

But his quick recovery and missing just one game is remarkable especially after watching the collision unfold.  

“My face is still sore,” Smiley said. “Sometimes I hit it by accident and I have to remember I got knocked out. My brain is fine, at least I think so, but my face is a little sore.”

SATURDAY'S GAME

Purdue (2-3, 1-1) at Illinois (3-2, 1-1)

Time: 3:30 p.m.

TV: FS1

Radio: WAZY (96.5)