Cowboys’ Tyler Smith calls reporter who claimed he’d retire if Smith got drafted

For most Dallas Cowboys fans, Tulsa OT Tyler Smith was not a name they expected to hear called for the 24th overall pick. There were several other Cowboys favorites at offensive line as well as wide receivers they were rumored to potentially trade up for. Ironically, the morning of the 2022 NFL Draft, ESPN’s Mel Kiper picked Smith for Dallas in his final mock draft, which caused an uproar among many fans.

It also didn’t sit well with local Dallas radio personality Bob Sturm. Sturm is a sports talk show host for Dallas sports radio station “The Ticket.” When he heard about Kiper’s choice, he tweeted out that he would retire if the Cowboys selected Smith after covering the team for over 20 years. Well, as we now all know, that tweet majorly backfired hours later. The radio host jokingly tweeted that “it’s been a great run” to his followers and also shared some videos that sparked his concern about Smith. He, unsurprisingly, didn’t retire, though.

Several news outlets quickly picked up the story and Sturm essentially went viral for his take. As if that weren’t entertaining enough, the Cowboys’ first-round pick himself decided to call the radio host the next day – a testament to the Tulsa product’s humor and enjoyable personality.

After radio host Bob Sturm said he’d retire if Tyler Smith got drafted by the Cowboys, the Dallas draftee called into his radio show

Smith was a good sport about it and poked fun at Sturm.

"“Is that Bob I heard? I’m surprised you clocked in today, man. I saw some things on my social. I thought you were taking a forever leave of absence there.”"

Instead of being salty, the radio host owned up to his mistake. He tried to explain himself to the Cowboys’ draft pick.

"“Well, you know what, I deserve every bit of it. I got it wrong, and the Cowboys did take you in the first round, and good for you! We’re happy for you, man. Let me come clean, let me not turtle on this, I see you as a player as a bit of a developing thing. You’re the youngest player in the draft, right?”"

To be fair to Sturm, he’s right. That’s why most people didn’t want to see Smith get drafted. He’s raw, was flagged a lot, and just turned 21 years old on April 3. Most thought the Cowboys would go with a sure-fire Week 1 starter with their first-round pick. Smith and the hosts went on to talk about his path to Tulsa, his journey with Blount’s disease, and more. You can listen to the full interview, here.