In the old NFL, if you got away with it during the game, you got away with it for good.
In the new NFL, if you get away with it in the game … the Eye in the Sky is still watching.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Tykee Smith could find that out the hard way this week after a brutal, helmet to helmet hit on New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in the second half of a 28-23, Week 10 loss by the Buccaneers.
Smith wasn’t flagged for the play during the game because referees determined the contact occurred on the field of play, which it did, so it means they were only looking for a possible penalty on making contact out of bounds or hitting a defenseless player.
That won’t negate the helmet-to-helmet aspect the NFL GameDay Accountability people might have a problem with, as the top of his helmet is the first part of his body to make contact with Maye’s helmet.
Smith had a clutch interception in Tampa Bay’s end zone with 5:19 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Patriots leading 21-16.
The loss dropped the Buccaneers’ record to 6-3. They return to action in Week 11 on the road against the Buffalo Bills.
“If this was Patrick Mahomes they would have filed assault charges on Tykee Smith.” FanSided’s Josh Hill wrote on X. “No flag on this hit (it was the right call because Drake Maye was still inbounds).”
Smith Won 2 National Titles at Georgia
Smith was an All-American and All-Big 12 player at West Virginia before transferring to Georgia, where he was an All-SEC pick and won back-to-back College Football Playoff National Championships his final 2 seasons.
The Buccaneers picked him in the third round (No. 89 overall) of the 2024 NFL draft.
“He played nickel at a really high level at Georgia,” Tampa Bay assistant general manager John Spytek told Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith after the draft. “He also played safety at a really high level at West Virginia, so we love the versatility of it.”
He started 6 games at cornerback a rookie, with 54 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles and 7 pass deflections. He also missed 4 games due to injuries — an injured knee and a concussion.
Smith has started all 9 games at safety in 2025, with 74 tackles, 1 interception, 9 pass deflections and 1 fumble recovery. In short, he’s pretty much a stats machine and a good value one at that, on a 4-year, $5.68 million rookie contract.
Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles moved Smith, 5-foot-10 and 202 pounds, from cornerback to safety before this season.
Singled Out as Impact Player Before Position Switch
Before the season — and even before the position switch — Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder singled Smith out as the “Best Kept Secret” on Tampa Bay’s roster in 2025.
“Smith showed a lot of promise during his rookie season in Tampa Bay,” Holder wrote on May 19. “The 2024 third-round pick hauled in a couple of interceptions and seven passes defended to earn a solid 69.0 PFF run defense grade during the regular season, and he was even better against the run with an 88.1 mark and four TFL. The Georgia product has the makings of becoming a Pro Bowl-caliber nickel for the Bucs.”
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