PETERSBURG, Virginia – It was striking to hear Bruce Smith maintain how anxious he felt to deliver a speech last week at the groundbreaking for an ambitious hotel and casino project that looms as another type of game-changing play for the NFL’s all-time sack king.
“I haven’t slept this whole week,” Smith told USA TODAY Sports, as several politicians and business leaders mingled in the shadows of heavy construction equipment.
Smith, 61, has given more than a few speeches at milestone events. Like for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Or when they retired his No. 78 jersey – both times, with the Buffalo Bills and at Virginia Tech. And you’d think that a man who played in four Super Bowls is rather comfortable with the spotlight.
“This is different,” Smith insisted, “because of the impact we’re going to have on a community that has been so overlooked.”
Sure, Smith made his name chasing quarterbacks like Dan Marino and John Elway. Now the charismatic football legend with 200 sacks on his NFL resume is fashioning another legacy as a commercial real estate developer. And 30 years since his first venture – a strip mall in Boynton Beach, Fla. — this is his biggest deal yet. His company, Bruce Smith Enterprise, is co-developer with The Cordish Companies for another iteration of the Live! brand that he envisions will spur significant economic growth in a city about 20 miles south of Richmond that has long needed a boost.
Talk about a big vision. Smith rattled off expectations that include 7,500 jobs and annual projections of more than $200 million in economic impact and maybe $25 million in tax revenues for the city.
It’s no wonder that Sam Parham, a native in his fifth term as mayor, trumpets it as “the biggest deal in the history of Petersburg.” The master plan for the mixed-use project, scheduled to be developed in phases, comes with a $1.4 billion price tag and pending market forces, might even include residential properties. The permanent hotel and casino near I-95 is slated to open in 2027.
“Instead of people driving past Petersburg, they will be driving to Petersburg,” Smith declared. “We feel like we’re going to create a market. This will solve a lot of problems.”
Smith bubbled as he emphasized the domino effect. Higher salaries for teachers and first responders. More retail options. Higher home values.
If it sounds like he’s running for office, well, almost. Smith campaigned door-to-door last year, urging residents to pass a referendum that allowed the project to move forward.
Said Parham: “You should have seen the excitement. ‘Is this a Jehovah’s Witness knocking at the door? No, Bruce Smith is at my door!’ It’s not every day that a Hall of Famer will show up at your door.”
The measure passed in November, with a whopping 82% of the vote.
“The real campaigning was going back and forth to Richmond,” Smith said, alluding to sessions with lawmakers at the state capitol. “Advocating for the people of Petersburg to give them the opportunity to vote on whether they wanted this project.”
Voters in Richmond twice rejected referendums for similar casino projects, when Smith had a lessor role as an investor. In trying again, Smith became the face of the deal – as his image displayed on signage at and near the construction site suggests – with his stake raised to the level of co-developer. It follows his previous efforts to build a casino-themed project in Virginia Beach, where he has lived for decades.
In other words, the Petersburg project begged for the type of cache that Smith, a Norfolk native, possesses in his home state.
“We restructured how we were going to approach Petersburg, because Bruce brings an unbelievable credibility with the developments he’s already done in Virginia, with his name recognition, with the fact that he’s a local leader of the community,” Rob Norton, president of the Cordish Gaming Group, told USA TODAY Sports. “We felt like he added weight beyond measure for us to be able to be successful.”
Smith, whose portfolio includes a hotel and apartment complex near his alma mater, called Smith’s Landing, is especially proud that he has assembled a group of African American investors to join the newest project. Never mind the attacks on DEI that are being institutionalized from the White House, influencing rollbacks in corporate America. Smith is unapologetic in expressing a purpose of empowerment for Black investors that could uplift a city that has the highest per-capita Black populous (76.7%) in the state.
“We’re making history,” Smith said. “There are very few of us who have this opportunity.”
Maybe that’s why Smith was a bit nervous about his message at the groundbreaking event. Ask Carmen Smith, Bruce’s wife of 34 years. They have shared a lifetime of milestones and emotions since meeting when they lived in the same dorm at Virginia Tech.
Anxious?
“I think he was just trying to come with the right words to express how he felt about the project,” Carmen told USA TODAY Sports. “He put a lot of hard work in it from the ground up. To raise the amount of money to get more of us to invest in it, he just felt like it was a lot of weight on his shoulders.”
Of course, this big deal is the culmination of a determined plan. Smith began crafting his post-football path long before he retired from the NFL in 2004 after 19 seasons. His former agent, Leigh Steinberg, considers Smith as the model for parlaying enormous athletic success into impact as an entrepreneur, praising his ability to establish a network of relationships that went far beyond the football universe.
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“He showed that you can be the owner rather than the Joe Louis greeter,” Steinberg said. “Football was great background for business.”
“Actually, it’s not too different,” Smith compares of his football and business careers. “All the lessons I was taught by my parents, and by Marv Levy and other coaches along the way, are coming into play right now.”
Asked to elaborate on the impact of Levy, his Hall of Fame coach with the Bills, Smith said it involved connecting on a human level.
“It’s not about brick and mortar,” he said. “It’s about people. It’s about changing people’s lives. And that’s what I have an opportunity to do.”
In other words, Smith is still seeking a level of all-pro impact.
Follow Jarrett Bell on social media: @JarrettBell