01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 18, 2005

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

Otis Smith, a defensive back who will be remembered fondly in New England for big plays in big games and a professional style, retired as a Patriot this week. In a symbolic move, Smith signed a one-day deal with the Patriots on Monday and promptly retired.

Smith, who turns 40 in October, began his career with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent out of Missouri in 1991. He went on to turn himself into a starting corner who played in three AFC Championship Games (1997 and 2002 with New England; 1999 with the New York Jets) and two Super Bowls.

Released by the Patriots last July just before training camp began, Smith was last active in 2003 when he played 16 games for the Detroit Lions at both corner and safety.

The Patriots cut Smith during the 2003 camp when then-rookies Asante Samuel and Eugene Wilson both emerged as viable defensive backs.

Smith played for four franchises but wanted to retire as a Patriot, according to his agent, Jim Solano.

"That's where I had my most success," Smith said yesterday. "Playing in two Super Bowls and winning one obviously made it the most memorable. Not only that, but the fans in New England appreciated me more than anywhere else."

Asked why he believed that was, Smith replied, "To me, the fans really appreciated an effort. Win, lose or draw, they were there for you and appreciated the effort given all the time. They could see when a team was losing if it was playing hard. They accepted losing if the work was there."

Smith was a terrifically smart player. He also worked exceptionally hard. In spring of 2003, soon before he was released by the Pats for the first time, Smith was seen running flights of stairs at Gillette Stadium in intense heat during his rehab from a shoulder injury he suffered at the end of the 2002 season.

Even though he was 38 when the Pats let him go, he didn't feel his career was ready to end.

"I couldn't get picked up by a team and I didn't understand that because I felt I was a pretty good player," he said. "But I was sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and I found it was time to hang up my cleats, instead of being in the gym training in hopes of someone calling me."

He played 14 years with the Eagles (1990-94), Jets (1995-96 and 1997-99), Patriots (1996 and 2000-2002) and Lions (2003). He picked off 29 passes in his regular-season career and returned seven for touchdowns, the sixth highest total in NFL history.

Perhaps his biggest pick, however, came in Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams. Late in the third quarter, Smith pilfered a Kurt Warner pass intended for a fallen Torry Holt and returned it 33 yards to set up a 37-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal that gave the Patriots a 17-3 lead heading into the fourth.

He -- like the rest of the Patriots' secondary on that day -- also hit Rams receivers like men possessed.

Smith, who has four daughters ranging in age from 2 to 23, now works in real estate investment in Washington, D.C. And while there are many things about him that would make him a valuable coach, he said, "I'm a family man. I applaud (coaches) for what they do but the time in the office would take away from my family at this point in my life."

Complicated stuff

Here's an interesting detail on the Patriots' contract with Tom Brady that helps highlight the difficulty in structuring these pacts.

Two weeks ago today, the Pats sent in Brady's initial deal to the league management council for approval, but they soon got it back and had to do some further tinkering. The hangup? There's an option in the contract that the Patriots must pick up next year to trigger the final year of the contract (2010).

But if the option wasn't exercised (which it will be), the Patriots would have been in violation of the "Deion Rule."

This rule, written in after the 49ers went into cap crisis by deferring massive amounts of signing bonus money on a Deion Sanders deal in the 1990s, protects against teams prorating signing bonuses into years that don't have salary caps. (It's more complicated than that, but suffice to say that's the crux of it.)

In order to be in accordance with the Deion Rule, the Pats had to rewrite the deal to say that if they didn't pick up Brady's option, they would increase his salary from $4 million to $6.7 million in 2006.

The Pats also had to work on the back end of the contract, dropping Brady's salary from $5 million in 2009 to $2.3 million in case the option wasn't picked up.

Squib kicks

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will speak at the 2005 Big Brother of the Year Awards tomorrow at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston. . . . The Saints have reportedly shown interest in former Patriots receiver Troy Brown. . . . With off-season workouts in full swing, the Patriots have a large contingent of players on hand. They start a passing camp early next week that runs for three days. The team will then hold a minicamp, beginning June 9.