What really happened between De’Veon Smith and the Pittsburgh Maulers that led to him being cut by the United States Football League (USFL) team?
On Monday, Smith went off on Twitter and accused the Maulers of lying in their statement about his release — which claimed Smith “had violated three team rules in a 24-hour span, and in this particular incident, disrespected a cafeteria worker, which wasn’t captured on camera.”
Last Saturday, a clip in the “United By Football: A Season in the USFL” documentary series chronicling the lead-up to the league’s return, showed Smith seemingly getting cut by the Maulers for requesting pizza instead of chicken salad at the team hotel.
In the footage, Smith claimed that when asked if he ate chicken salad, he said no and asked if there was something else he could eat. When a staff member came in with a pizza, Smith claimed he simply asked if he could have a slice.
Maulers coach Kirby Wilson, though, had already “moved on” from Smith, and said in the clip, “I’m happy we did it.”
“Show me the three team rules I broke please!” Smith tweeted Monday.
“Now if I send these screenshots from our exact convo who’s the one lying?” he wrote in a separate tweet.
In another tweet, Smith wrote, “I was never made aware that I violated any team rules, let alone 3 in a 24hr span. I never disrespected anyone. Coach Kirby and I spoke after being released. In that talk, he said that he’d certainly vouch for my character.”
Smith then reposted a tweet by Ron Selesky, the former operations manager for the Tampa Bay Vipers, that read: “I worked with @i_BSmith4 every day. Zero issues. Professional. Respectful.”
It’s unclear if the revamped USFL is looking into the situation concerning Smith and the Maulers.
