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Billy Ray Smith, former Razorback, Colt, dead at 66

Friday, March 23, 2001
Smith was always a Razorback
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK – Billy Ray Smith Sr., 66, a football standout Arkansas in the 1950s, died Wednesday after a two-year fight with cancer.

University of Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said Thursday that Smith "was a symbol of the success of Razorback football."

Smith was a member of the 1954 Arkansas team that played in the Cotton Bowl and was nationally ranked. Smith, who played 13 years in the National Football League, had completed his Arkansas career by the time Broyles arrived as football coach in 1958.

"He was one of the first to play pro football and was always a standout on the football field," Broyles said. "He never failed to support the Razorbacks.

"What I admired about Billy Ray is that he was a very successful businessman, but he never lost the bond with the University of Arkansas and the Razorback athletic program," Broyles said.

Smith's son, Billy Ray Smith Jr., was a star with the Razorbacks and played in the NFL.

"He is the only father to have his son join him as an inductee in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame," Broyles said.

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