From Dunkin' Donuts, Back To The Football Field, J'Mar Smith Had Quite The USFL Return For Birmingham

I don't know if a Hollywood director could've written a better story this past weekend for Birmingham Stallions quarterback J'Mar Smith, who was recently working at a Dunkin' Donuts to provide for his family as of a few weeks ago. 

The former Louisiana Tech quarterback has had plenty of up and down moments over the past five seasons playing in the USFL. After being drafted in 2022 by the Stallions, J'Mar Smith had plenty of memorable moments in his career, winning three titles with Birmingham, and his former college coach Skip Holtz. 

It was during that first season that he caught the attention of football fans, passing for 1,573 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2022, leading Birmingham to a league title. But in 2023, things started to take a turn for the worse, after suffering a hand injury during the Stallions first game of the season, which kept him on the sidelines for the remainder of 2023. 

While he did get the opportunity to return in 2024, there was plenty of competition for the starting job, with Adrian Martinez and Matt Corral on the Stallions roster. If you remember those two names from their Nebraska and Ole Miss days, then you knew the attention they'd be getting would lead to J'Mar Smith sitting the bench in a backup role for the entire 2024 season. 

Having dealt with riding the bench and not seeing much action over the previous two seasons, Smith decided it was time to retire this past March.  

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - MAY 11: J'Mar Smith #1 of Birmingham Stallions celebrates after his team's 33-25 victory against the Houston Roughnecks at Protective Stadium on May 11, 2025 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Stew Milne/UFL/Getty Images)

J'Mar Smith Goes From Dunkin' Donuts To Leading USFL's Birmingham, Again 

For J'Mar, it was time to move on from the game he loved and provide for his family, even though he never lost his love for football. As players will understand, it's always hard to move on from the game, no matter what sport you’re playing.

From that point, it was time to enter the daily workforce, taking any job that would provide for his family, as J'Mar Smith described on Monday morning with Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic. 

After announcing his retirement from the game in March, Smith told the pair what he had been doing over the past two months, before returning to football. 

"When I had talked to Coach Holtz right before the season had started, I was already doing some detailing work with cars, just trying to find something to do, while trying to go back to school to finish my Masters," J'Mar Smith explained. "I also started working at Dunkin' Donuts off of Acton Road in Vestavia. So, those are the things I was doing, and they gave me a great schedule to work in the morning from about five to twelve, six to one, and then workout and train in the afternoon at the gym off 280. 

"I would throw with my quarterback trainer, Price. It was just a great opportunity. I had to grow up a little bit with the time away from football. Just spent time with my son, grew up a little bit mentally, and just challenge myself to do something different. I was hitting the gym like six days out of the week, dark mode in there, just doing a lot of weightlifting and starting that inner-peace, and it really helped me a lot." 

That's right, he went from detailing cars and working the morning shift at Dunkin' Donuts, to leading Birmingham to the biggest comeback win in United Football League history this past weekend. 

He last threw a competitive pass in 2023, but didn’t waste any time finding his groove on Sunday after starting quarterback Case Cookus was injured in the second half. It was time for Smith to show what he had, giving the Stallions the 27-25 lead with 1:55 remaining in the game off a 1-yard touchdown scramble. 

Remember, J'Mar Smith did not sign with Birmingham until just eleven days ago, thinking his professional football career was over. 

"I think that time was good for him. And ever since probably the third game, he has been texting me with regret about the decision he made and how much he wanted to be back involved," Birmingham's Skip Holtz recalled. "And I am just appreciative and grateful that those opportunities have showed up for him. I think the world of this guy. We’ve been together a long time. That’s how this gray got into this beard."

For a guy that was serving coffee and detailing cars just a few weeks ago, I'd say this was an opening game J'Mar Smith will never forget. 

Hopefully he gets the chance to continue writing this chapter of his story, because it has the chance to be an incredible book once he's officially done with the game of football.