Life Lessons Through Food

This year’s annual Joan Christy Lecture Series on Food and Culture brought Derrell Smith ’10, G’13 to the Falk College of Sport, where he demonstrated his award-winning meatball recipe and spoke about his professional journey – a path from NFL linebacker to advertising producer to celebrated chef.

Smith is the founder of Amazeballs, a Brooklyn-based specialty meatball company that gained popularity through New York City catering. He expanded on his success by establishing his ‘99EATS’ culinary brand, becoming a television cooking host, and opening a barbecue restaurant in Los Angeles called Smokey Chance BBQ.

While at Falk College for the lecture, Smith attended NSD 216 Food Service Operations, a class that teaches students about the planning and execution of large-scale cooking operations. He prepared his meatball recipe with the help of Sophia Lee, a junior studying nutrition and exercise science.

“Working with someone in the kitchen, you learn a lot about them,” Lee says about her time cooking with Smith, adding she was amazed he could tell the ground beef mixture for the meatballs needed more salt just by smelling it. “Having someone like that come into the kitchen who’s so ready to show his love for cooking, it’s incredible.”

That evening, Smith delivered his lecture to a room full of students, faculty, staff, and community members. As he detailed his career path and explained his inspiration for getting into the food industry, he prepared a chimichurri topping for his meatballs.

Before his visit to his alma mater ended, Smith spoke to a lecture hall of freshmen sport management students in the SPM 205 Principles and Contemporary Issues in Sport Management class. Two students in the class, Lily Katra and Noah Hirson, say hearing about his experience was invaluable as they begin their own career paths.

“He’s so bold and knows what he can do, but he’s also very humble about it,” Katra says, “and the way he spoke made us feel like we can do this too.”

“It’s really important to hear from all the different aspects of the sport industry because there are so many different sectors you can go into,” Hirson says. “There are so many more opportunities than just the 30 NBA teams or 32 NFL teams.”

The Joan Christy lecture series is made possible by The Christy Food and Culture Fund, established in 2005 through the generosity of Syracuse University nutrition alumna Joan Christy ’78, G’81 to provide support for a lecture series in the nutrition program at the University.