Geno Smith, a gifted artist, uses the football field as his new canvas

LostLettermen.com is a college football and men's basketball website that regularly contributes to Dr. Saturday. Today it looks at Heisman Trophy favorite Geno Smith.

West Virginia quarterback and Heisman Trophy front-runner Geno Smith was already an artist long before he started turning college football fields into his personal canvas.

Smith was labeled a gifted student in elementary school, and was placed into an advanced curriculum that emphasized the arts. He won a fifth-grade oratorical contest for reciting poet Langston Hughes. He acted in his school's production of "The Nutcracker."

But it was as a visual artist that Smith made his biggest mark.

"There were black and white shadings, acrylics with pastel chalks," recalled Smith's mother, Tracey Sellers, about his artwork. "He did a self-portrait, painted his little cousins, did shades of and sketches with pencils, pictures of his shoes and collages. It's something that's etched in our mind.

"His art was natural. He had ability that made him 'advanced' in the minds of his teachers, and they kind of helped his potential."

In the seventh grade, Smith was admitted to the Norland Middle School's magnet program that spent two hours a day on arts instruction. Smith was then offered a spot at New World School of the Arts, a public magnet high school in Miami. But by time that time, Smith was "less interested in art because he was consumed by his football career," Sellers said. Smith instead opted to play football at Miramar High School.

[Related: PHOTOS: Top 10 ugliest college football helmets ever]

Which isn't to say that Smith gave up being an artist. He just found a different outlet for being one.

"When I was younger, I enjoyed learning all the different aspects of art during my time in school and tried to put a lot of hard work and time into it to try and get good at it," Smith said via email. "Now, I do the same with football. I try to put as much time and effort into it so that I can try to perfect my game and get as good as I can."

Artists are always their own harshest critics. They have a predetermined vision of what their work should look like. Any deviations from that vision simply will not do.

A similar mentality is required for a quarterback. So even though Smith shifted his focus from art to football after middle school, he never stopped thinking like an artist. Sellers said she recognizes the connection between Smith's past and his present.

"Any artist has to have some form of vision, the ability to see things and create things mentally," she said. "They have to have the ability to make quick changes, like 'I take the eraser and erase the play if I see something in the defense.'"

[Related:

PHOTOS: 2012 college football uniform tracker & grader]

All of which has served Smith well under the tutelage of second-year Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen, whose Air Raid offense is dependent on having a fast-thinking signal-caller that can choose the right route and hit his receivers in space.

Equipped with the tools of the Air Raid, Smith has turned in a 2012 season thus far that belongs in the college football equivalent of the Louvre: 2,271 yards on 75.3 percent passing, 25 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

The artistry that Smith has displayed this season — not to mention the various stories written about the creativity he displayed during his youth — makes one crave a look at the art he made in elementary and middle school. If only that was possible.

Hurricane Wilma caused $20.6 billion worth of damages in Florida in October 2005. Smith and his family got through it relatively unscathed. His art portfolio, however, was not as lucky.

More from LostLettermen.com

• College football's Top 20 best helmets

• Fake Pro Combat helmet designs go viral

• Mark Rypien's daughter now Lingerie QB

• Flutie's daughter now NFL cheerleader

"He had this big brown portfolio that used to be right behind his bedroom door," Sellers said. "The hurricane completely destroyed our roof and water poured into his bedroom. If you can imagine this portfolio sitting on a carpet that's soaking wet, all these paints and pencils, it becomes one big mess."

[Related: PHOTOS: Insane H.S. uniforms even crazier than Oregon's]

By then, Smith was in the first of four seasons he would spend as Miramar High's starting quarterback and was completely dedicated to football. The four years (fifth through eighth grades) in which Smith's primary extracurricular was his artwork had sadly been washed away.

But now far removed from his middle-school artistry, Smith's affection for the arts hasn't been lost. He's an English major at West Virginia who is currently taking one class in Shakespeare and another in American literature. It brings to mind the boy from south Florida who wowed his family and his teachers with his natural ability in the visual and performing arts.

[Related: VIDEO: Streaker interrupts West Virginia-Texas Tech game]

As we watch Smith lead the chase for the Heisman Trophy and possibly lead West Virginia to a second consecutive BCS bowl, it's clear this is not your average quarterback we are observing.

Instead, we are patrons admiring the gridiron canvas he is starting to fill in.

Most popular on LostLettermen.com:
• PHOTO: Passed out Georgia football fan becomes infamous
• Where are they now? All-time Heisman Trophy winners
• Gray Ole Miss uniforms spark racial debate over Civil War
• Top 10 Heisman Trophy seasons ever ft. Barry Sanders
• Will Geno Smith be No. 1 overall pick in 2013 NFL Draft?

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• No show: Yankees try to disguise empty seats at ALCS by moving fans
• Kevin Iole: Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado earn legendary status
• Will Silva-Jones become UFC's version Pacquiao-Mayweather?
• GrindTV.com: Daredevil breaks sound barrier during skydive