Broncos receiver Rod Smith, one of the last remaining links to the team’s Super Bowl-winning seasons and arguably the greatest undrafted free agent receiver to ever play the game, formally retired on Thursday.

“I gave them everything I had,” Smith said during the emotional press conference.

Smith spent twelve years with the Broncos, last playing in 2006.  He finishes his career with 849 receptions for 11,389 yards and 85 touchdowns.

In 1995, Smith made an immediate impression on first-year coach Mike Shanahan, who was struck by Smith’s ability to compete at the NFL level.  “You keep looking and saying, ‘Why can’t they cover this guy?”‘ Shanahan said.  “Then you say, ‘Holy cow, I’ve got myself a football player.’”

Smith’s case is further proof that, in the end, all those hours of watching film and viewing practice and clicking stopwatches don’t matter.  The only way to know how college players will perform at the next level is to put them there, and to see who sinks — and who swims.

Smith swam, incredibly well.  The Broncos and the sport will miss him.