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UNM Football: Prognosis for shot Lobos recruit not good

By Iliana Limón
Saturday, December 23, 2006

University of New Mexico football recruit Ervin "Una" Smiley endures intense nightmares, reliving the early morning he was shot in Albuquerque.

"I have these night sweats and can barely sleep," Smiley said during a phone interview Friday. "The shooting is all I think about. They stole my dreams."

His chances of playing football or of even walking again got bleaker Friday, but Albuquerque police made an arrest that may eventually help them charge someone in the shooting.

Smiley was on an official UNM recruiting visit when he went to the Spearmint Rhino Gentleman's Club, 1645 University Blvd. N.E., with Lobos players Clayton Cardenas, Justin Clayton and Michael Tuohy, according to police.

They were leaving the strip club about 2 a.m. Dec. 9 when they got into an argument with two unidentified men in their early to mid-20s. One of the men had a handgun and fired 17 shots at the athletes' SUV in the strip club parking lot and at the nearby intersection of University Boulevard and Indian School Road Northeast.

Two bullets ripped through Smiley's right calf muscle and are still lodged in his left leg. Another bullet blew the area near his right knee, hitting a nerve.

He has returned home to San Diego but is confined to a wheelchair.

A multiagency task force arrested an unidentified man in his early 20s for a probation violation at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

"He is a person of interest in connection with the shooting," said Trish Hoffman, an Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman.

She said detectives were still interviewing the man and determining whether he played a role in the shooting.

Hoffman said she did not know whether the man in police custody was the suspected gunman or the other person with him at the strip club.

The same afternoon the man was arrested, Smiley got bad news.

Smiley's doctors told him the nerve near his right knee was dead and will require surgery to repair.

"I knew it was bad when my leg wouldn't move during all their tests," Smiley said. "They told me they will try to fix it with surgery. If the surgery doesn't work, I won't play football again and might not be able to walk.

"I'm really scared, but it's not in my hands right now. I'm just sitting in the passenger seat hoping this turns out all right."

The doctors did not tell him what the chances were of a successful outcome, but they are pushing to get the procedure done in two weeks.

"They understand how much this means to me and have been giving me appointments real quick," he said.

Part of Smiley has given up on playing football again, a sport he said rescued him when he was a juvenile delinquent headed for an early death or prison sentence.

"I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, so I will be OK when the doctors tell me I can't play again," he said.

Smiley said friends and relatives have helped him cope, but he still spends most of his time alone, confined to his home.

He has to stay in San Diego, where he attends Palomar College, instead of returning home to Honolulu for the holidays. He isn't sure whether any relatives will be with him for Christmas, although his uncle Vincent Rosa said earlier this week he would make the five-hour drive to be with Smiley.

"People come by a lot, but no one can really be here with me all the time," Smiley said. "I end up just sitting here and thinking about what happened. I wish I could take it all back. I would give anything for my life to just get back to normal."

Smiley said he had not committed to any schools before his UNM visit. He said Oregon State coaches told him soon after the shooting they would wait and see whether doctors thought he could recover.

He has not heard from other schools that were heavily recruiting him, including San Diego State.

Smiley said UNM is paying for his medical expenses and will honor his scholarship regardless of whether he can play football again.

The school also suspended the three players who escorted Smiley during his recruiting visit.

"I should go there if I don't have any other options to finish my education, but I have so many horrible memories of New Mexico right now," he said. "I don't know if I can ever go back there."

Smiley still declines to talk about what happened the morning he was shot.

An officer, who interviewed Smiley, 20, at University of New Mexico Hospital soon after the shooting, stated the recruit appeared be intoxicated, according to a police report.

Smiley said a lot of his friends have encouraged him to hire a lawyer and sue UNM.

"I'm not that kind of guy," Smiley said. "If I can walk and play football again, there would be no need for a lawsuit. I just want to put all of this behind me as soon as possible."

He copes by listening to oldies, leaning on the soulful sounds of Marvin Gaye, the Isley Brothers, and Earth, Wind and Fire.

"They remind me of home and help me stay calm," he said.

Smiley sometimes turns on ESPN and catches a little bit of "SportsCenter," but he can take it only in small doses.

"I love football and always used to watch it on TV when I wasn't playing, but I can't do it anymore," he said. "It makes me kind of sick to watch other guys play while I'm stuck in a wheelchair. It hurts too much."