Jets LT Tyron Smith Says ‘There Is Always Something New You Can Learn’

It should come as no surprise that Tyron Smith‘s dedication to his craft as an elite offensive lineman in the NFL flows from his experience in his family business.

Work ethic? It was baked into his consciousness from the time he was a youngster growing up in the California town of Moreno Valley.

“When I was younger, ever since I was 5 or 6 years old, we had a family janitorial business and we took pride in what we did,” Smith, who signed with the Jets in free agency after 13 seasons with Dallas, told Eric Allen during an in-depth chat on “The Official Jets Podcast.” “Because the better we did our job the more work we’ll get. The pay wasn’t great and we struggled growing up. But for me, I knew that if you do the job well you get another job. I’m outside cleaning windows on a building … and I took pride in that. You got to make sure it’s done right.”

And while he played on the offensive and defensive lines (and was a standout in track and field) at Rancho Verde HS, earning notice from Parade magazine, Scouts.com and others, Smith rarely had time on the weekend to hang with his pals.

“And so for me, it was high school we’re playing a game on Friday night, next day, Saturday morning, we’re driving to a long destination for work somewhere, it could be like to Sacramento or Arizona for a job, and not really any kind of rest or anything like that. And so it’s kind of taught you that mindset of, you know, do I really care how tired you are? You still have to do the work.”