EAGAN, Minn. — The hands on the clock are going backwards.

Maybe it's an optical illusion. More likely, it's part of Harrison Smith's legend. Either way, it's true "The Hitman" is closing out his 14^th season on his terms, in 1-of-1 fashion, with a disregard for Father Time.

In front of a Winter Whiteout Christmas Day crowd Thursday that stirred his emotions, Smith manifested a vintage performance — a sack, two tackles for a loss, three passes defensed and his 39^th interception — in Minnesota's 23-10 home win against Detroit. His omnipresence and pure joy were all the rage in his 202^nd career regular-season start, which moved him past Hall of Famer Carl Eller for third in team history.

Afterward, with tears welling above his eye black and his trademark hushed tone occasionally drifting into a silence that captivated the celebrating locker room — daring to save his candidness for another time — Smith detailed his love for play-making on a defense that's peaking: "It's like being a kid," he said.

His wisdom, of course, bars him from sounding as such. As does his Hall of Fame-level gamesmanship. The youthfulness in Smith's heart and soul, however, has triggered a string of "legacy games," if you will.

It commenced with a pick in Week 14 that supported the club's shutout of Washington, the third opponent goose egg in Smith's tenure (also Dec. 10, 2023, at Las Vegas and Dec. 23, 2017, at Green Bay) and first not on the road. And it continued on Sunday Night Football at Dallas when Smith captained a bout of cat-and-mouse and prevented the NFL's top-ranked passing offense from reaching the end zone.

Smith manned 100 percent of Minnesota's defensive snaps for the third consecutive game in this season's away finale in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and he didn't wince in a cold and windy setting as the Giants offense shivered its way to seven completions and 13 net passing yards. And then, Smith roleplayed like St. Nick, crossing off Vikings fans' wishlists with a classic effort that'll be tough to forget.

"I had some good splash plays," Smith humbly said. "But everybody played well on defense."

Honestly, he was being more modest than necessary. Smith recorded sack No. 21.5, splattering Jared Goff on the nose of the Norseman logo to upend Detroit's first series. Blitzing off the edge, he extended his arms over his head and denied a quick screen to Jameson Williams in the second quarter. Five plays later, he walked outside Dallas Turner, a few yards off the ball, and diagnosed a screen to Amon-Ra St. Brown. The result? A 5-yard loss — and Smith's 51^st career TFL. Late in the third frame, he planted and drove forward to beat St. Brown to a pass, procuring a pick, and bringing him to the doorstep of the revered 40-20 club. And with about five minutes left and Detroit facing a third-and-8 from Minnesota's 30, he stretched his paws for a batdown that forced the Lions to settle for a field goal in a six-point game.

It was a program of turn-back-the-clock moments for Smith, and it was appropriately received.

Toward the end of it, teammates recognized Smith's objective greatness by fanning him off and the stadium exploded with applause when he was shown on the video boards. In return, the 36-year-old, who is one of just nine players from the 2012 draft playing in 2025, reciprocated approval for the fans.

"Not everyone's career gets to go that way," he said of the curtain call. "I'm not naive to that."

Expectedly, the scene incited the retirement question, a familiar but uneasy one for Smith to answer.

"I can't speak on that right now," he stated, mirroring his approach from each of the past two seasons. "I'm going to enjoy this with the guys I've gone to work with. … And that will handle itself when it does."

By the looks of it and per his own admission of recently feeling better physically after a health issue complicated the start of his season, Smith could suit up in 2026, and it would shock no one. After all, he's the first player his age or older to record a sack and a pick in the same game since Karlos Dansby in 2017. (Smith is one of only nine in history; the only ones his senior were Trace Armstrong and Gold Jackets Ronde Barber and Rickey Jackson). By the same token, however, it wouldn't be a surprise if Smith tied together the laces of his cleats and tossed them skyward over a powerline in the aftermath of Week 18.

"During the week I wouldn't say I feel 26, but … these last couple years have been a different style of not just defense, but football that we play," Smith expressed, admittedly riding an adrenaline high. "And that kind of — I don't know if that just kind of excites your nervous system or what it is, but it's a lot of fun."

Simplifying a serpentine scheme concocted by Brian Flores that has "more rules than you think" but wants players to be "fast and loose," Smith added, "I had a teammate in the past, Andrew Sendejo, who said, 'If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.' That's pretty much how we play."

It starts with stopping the run, something Minnesota has outdone everyone in, in 50 games with Flores. Since Kevin O'Connell brought him on in 2023 to replace Ed Donatell as defensive coordinator, foes have run for 3.9 yards per attempt; AFC clubs Houston and New England are tied for second in that area (4.0).

Scratching off that requisite enables Flo' to punch the aggressiveness into hyperdrive on well-known passing downs. Then it's on guys like Green Dot Blake Cashman — and Smith — to play "check ball," which requires defenders to communicate a play, from up to three options, based on the offensive formation. Six takeaways versus the Lions, who entered Week 17 with eight handouts overall and only one prior game this year with multiple (they still won) were the byproduct of constantly confusing them.

The stress Smith helped create, before Goff's cadence entered the atmosphere, was doubly impressive.

"Harry is quarterbacking a lot of things for us defensively," O'Connell remarked at his postgame press conference. "Especially against the divisional opponent, we obviously know each other well. … So we wanted to be able to, once again, give Harrison the ability to kind of win the pre-snap in many ways. And then what I think he did tonight was win the post-snap in many ways with his ability to get after the quarterback, with the sack, and then [he] had a couple TFLs [and] interception — just phenomenal."

The coach added: "His leadership throughout this stretch has also been something that I'll remember."

Andrew Van Ginkel, who is as cerebral as anyone, seemed in awe of Smith's ability to dress up the defense pre-snap and conflict offenses post-snap: "He's played forever," Van Ginkel said. "He knows what to get us in, what to get us out [of] … And Flo' does a great job of giving that leeway to him so he can put us in the right position. And then he knows where to be on every snap, so it's pretty cool to see."

That's one of many things special about Smith. Pinpointing his defining trait is difficult, though.

"It's always a common question, you know, 'What's it like to be able to play with a guy that's probably going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer?' " pondered Cashman, who was a budding talent at Eden Prairie High School when Smith was drafted. "I would say that there's so much you can learn and take from an individual like Harrison Smith that goes far beyond just the football field. He's obviously an incredible football player, but how he handles himself as a professional, how he handles himself as a teammate, a friend, a husband and father, he just sets the bar high, and it's an example we all strive to be like."

Perhaps more vulnerable than ever, Smith said Thursday that doubts about playing again "snuck in" when he was out for a portion of training camp and the first two games "but I'm pretty hard-headed."

It's a good thing he is — and that he put his confidence in the process, instead of fearing the unknown.

For nine games in a row now, Smith has backboned a unit that's as good as any in the league, and any since 2020. Here's the cold hard facts: Minnesota has given up 1,385 yards (153.9 avg.) and four scores through the air in its past nine, tied with the 2022 Jets for the fewest pass TDs allowed in any nine-game stretch during one season in that six-year span. The QBs faced aren't duck soup, either. Goff (twice), Jaxson Dart, Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota and Jayden Daniels, Sam Darnold, Jordan Love, Caleb Williams and Lamar Jackson combined to clip 58.4 percent of their throws and post a 73.7 passer rating.

Smith, for what it's worth, has played 575 defensive snaps out of a possible 584 in those games (98.5%).

"I think early in the year we were figuring out exactly what our individual roles were," Smith explained, "and there was a lot of good, but it wasn't quite as tight. And then we've gotten maybe a little more aggressive in some things and I think it's more just the belief in that. Without getting too into detail, it's a scheme that most guys have not come up playing (in), with these rules and these techniques and stuff."

Smith attributed the surge, which dates to Week 9 at Detroit, to players buying into the concept of carrying out their assignments because "it makes sense for the totality of the defense," and time on task.

The quintessential safety who's played 206 regular-season games and eight in the playoffs for the most successful team by winning percentage that's never hoisted a Lombardi Trophy (.550) has sweat and blood equity in the franchise. A Viking since April 26, 2012, he should be embraced as one forever by spectators and storytellers and really anyone privy to his run, thanks to what he's done for Minnesota.

While fielding questions about his emotions and his future, Smith shared perspective on the present.

"I've definitely been on some great defenses over the years and had phenomenal performances. But when you're bumped out of the playoffs, there's just some realities that set in, and to have the players that we have — a lot of guys have been Pro Bowlers, guys that have made money or whatever — it's very easy to think, like, 'Ah, I'm not going to go all-in. I'm going to think about my career here,' which is — it's not unreasonable, right? But there's something about this group on defense, like, we just — when you get between the lines, you just kind of go all-out. And I don't why exactly but it makes it fun.

"You just — like I said, I forget my age," Smith continued. "I forget all that (and) just enjoy the moment."

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