Career and Life

​

Malcolm Xavier Smith is an American football linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Smith played college football at USC. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Smith was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLVIII after they defeated the Denver Broncos.

​

Smith's brother Steve Smith also attended USC from 2003 to 2006 and played wide receiver for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and the St. Louis Rams.

​

Smith has achalasia, a rare disorder of esophagus which affects its ability to move food toward the stomach. It started to affect him around the time of the 2009 Rose Bowl, where he began losing a few pounds of body weight each week because food would get stuck in his esophagus and he would have to throw it up. The weight loss was a problem as Smith tried to keep his weight up to 230 pounds (100 kg). Originally diagnosed as acid reflux, further tests revealed the problem as achalasia. Smith underwent a surgical procedure called a Heller myotomy which helped somewhat, but he still has dietary restrictions that force him to eat very slowly.

​

​

​

​

​

Source.

​

​