|
ALSO SEE
Broyles: Smith was always a Razorback
|
|
Friday, March 23, 2001
Smith, former Razorback and Colt, dead at 66
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK –
Billy Ray Smith Sr., a football standout with
the Arkansas Razorbacks in the 1950s who played in the NFL for 13
years, died Wednesday after a two-year fight with cancer. He was 66.
|  | | Billy Ray Smith played for the Baltimore Colts from 1961-1970. |
Smith played tackle for the Razorbacks from 1954-56, and his
professional tenure included two Super Bowl appearances with the
Baltimore Colts.
"He was a great football player, a great athlete, but that
barely scratches the surface of the kind of person he was," said
Billy Ray Smith Jr., himself a former NFL player and star with the
Razorbacks.
The elder Smith was a member of the 1954 Razorback team that
played in the Cotton Bowl and earned a top-10 ranking. The Los
Angeles Rams drafted Smith in the third round in 1957 and traded
him a year later to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two years later, the
Steelers sent Smith to the Colts.
At Baltimore, Smith competed with Bubba Smith for starting
assignments. Smith started at tackle through 1969 and remained with
the Colts through the 1970 season, when Baltimore beat the Dallas
Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V. He was also with the Colts for Super
Bowl III, which the AFL's New York Jets won 16-7.
Ordell Braase, a longtime friend of Smith's, recalled that his
friend teased Bubba Smith when the two competed.
"He started playing these mind games with Bubba," Braase said.
"He'd tell Bubba 'Just remember one thing -- if you're taking my
position away, I have a wife and four kids you need to take care
of.'"
Small for a tackle at 6-4, 230 pounds, Billy Ray Smith Sr. was
able to employ his boxing skills for a competitive advantage when
head slaps were legal. Smith was a Golden Gloves regional champion
in 1953 and 1954, and twice won the South heavyweight championship,
in 1955 and 1956.
"He intimidated a lot of people," recalled Art Donovan, the
former Colt who played two seasons with Smith. "He was not really
that big to be a defensive tackle but he was so aggressive."
Smith is survived by his wife, Jenny; four children; three
stepchildren; nine grandchildren; and two sisters.
A funeral is scheduled for Saturday in Little Rock.
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
