When I agreed to do a video with YouTube giant Dude Perfect in July of 2017, I knew that I would be a huge opportunity for me to expand my online presence – still, I never could have guessed that this collaborative project would change my life as profoundly as it has since then. That is why I am extraordinarily excited to announce that I will be working with the Dude Perfect team again to…
Back in my days as an NCAA pitcher, the notion of becoming injured was always on my mind; both I and my coaches knew that a badly strained elbow or shoulder could take me out of commission for a while or even put an end to my baseball career. Now, however, when I find myself discussing the various injuries I have sustained as a professional card thrower, my explanations are often met with looks of…
The year was 2003, and a young Rick Smith Jr., having just broken the world records for fastest, highest, and furthest card throws, was faced with a life-changing decision. The days directly after I broke the world record in front of countless video cameras and reporters in CSU’s Convocation Center were a blur; I found my face on the front of the local papers, and it seemed as if my unique talent had put me…
My journey to becoming a world record-holding card thrower was not a direct one; in fact, my ability to throw playing cards far, high, and fast originally stemmed from my experience as a baseball player. I pitched for Cleveland State University from 2000-2003 (throughout my college years) and found out towards the end of my NCAA baseball career that the pitching skill that I had perfected for my time on the mound actually translated over…
tAlthough I have spent years perfecting my card throwing technique so that I could become and then remain a world record holder, it was not until I was in college that I realized a world record was even a possibility for me. My skill in card throwing began as a product of my two greatest passions in my childhood and young adulthood: the art of magic and the game of baseball. Because I had been…
