No matter how stressful Lovie Smith's first year is in Tampa Bay, and judging by the Buccaneers' recent struggles it might be pretty tough, the 55-year-old head coach can sleep easy knowing he won't have to defend his family from vicious animals at night.
In a recent interview, the former Bears and new Bucs coach discussed a "vacation" he took with his family to Costa Rica. After getting fired by Chicago, where he had spent eight years and took the Bears to a Super Bowl, Smith wanted to get away. So he took his family to a remote village in Costa Rica. And we'll let him take it from there:
"First couple of days we were there, we heard some little small, white-faced monkeys. About Day 6, we heard the howling monkeys. Day 8, we had the back door open, and they come in. A few days before, you think you're ready to take on anything to protect your wife, my son (Mikale) said 'Dad, a monkey is four times stronger than a man, so be careful.' So about that time, I kept a machete in the back just in case. You're out in the rain forest and I had my wife there. About Day 9, I had barbecued a little bit earlier in the day. I look up, and there are two big male monkeys standing up on the table with their teeth showing. I thought 'OK, this is not going to end well.'"
"Anyway, I got a broom. I didn't have to really kill one of the monkeys. I pushed him out of the house and we packed up that day and got out. That's a true story. I had the machete. I was ready. Have you ever heard a howling monkey? No one here, I guess you've been in Tampa most of your life. They're kind of a terrifying sound. I didn't have to kill any monkeys and we were able to get out of there. We left on Day 9 of a 50-day stay. Mary Anne said 'OK, let's go somewhere else, we've got a little bit of time.' I said 'Hey. We're going to Tampa.' We're down on the beach down here, spent a little bit of our time down here."
"As it turned out, I thought it was going to end a little bit differently than it did, to say the least. We got out of it alive."
Sounds like a nightmare for many and a dream trip for Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy.
