Taco Bell saved Steve Smith’s life.

As a wide receiver at Santa Monica City College in the late 1990s, the future five-time Pro Bowler worked at the fast food restaurant. If not for the job he initially took to help him pay for a homecoming dance, Smith said he likely would have been shot by a teammate, who Smith had pummeled in a fight during a recent practice.

While the teammate waited for Smith to show up to a walkthrough Friday morning — for a game that night — Smith had been excused to work his shift at Taco Bell.

“Old boy that I got in a fight with, he was waiting in my locker area with a pistol. He was in the locker room and he was waiting basically to shoot me,” Smith said on the “10 Questions With Kyle Brandt” podcast. “And if I would have come in, he would’ve shot me, but the fact of the matter is I didn’t show up that day.”

Smith didn’t explain what happened when he finally saw the disgruntled teammate, but soon he would transfer to Utah, then become a third-round pick and one of the league’s best receivers. After a 16-year career, he ranked seventh all-time in receiving yards (14,731) and 12th in receptions (1,031).

“So it’s kind of crazy how all of that intertwined, where some people look at it as a curse, you know, ‘You gotta work fast food,’ but for me when I really look back at it, it was a gift,” Smith said.