 Smith in 2009 | |||||
| No. 78, 77 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | (1945-02-28)February 28, 1945 Orange, Texas, U.S. | ||||
| Died | August 3, 2011(2011-08-03) (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||||
| Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||||
| Weight | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school | Charlton-Pollard (Beaumont, Texas) | ||||
| College | Michigan State (1964–1966) | ||||
| NFL draft | 1967: 1st round,1st overall pick | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||
| |||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||
| |||||
Charles Aaron "Bubba"Smith (February 28, 1945 – August 3, 2011) was an American professionalfootballdefensive end and actor. Smith played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theBaltimore Colts,Oakland Raiders, andHouston Oilers.
Smith playedcollege football forMichigan State University, where he twice earnedAll-American honors on theSpartans football team. Smith had a major role in a10–10 tie againstNotre Dame in 1966 that was billed as "The Game of the Century". He is one of only six players to have his jersey number retired by the program. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1988.[1]
Thefirst overall pick of the1967 NFL/AFL draft, Smith played nine years in the NFL for the Colts, Raiders, and Oilers from 1967 to 1976. He was the Colts' starting left defensive end for five seasons, playing inSuper BowlsIII andV. He was named to twoPro Bowls and was a first-teamAll-Pro in 1971.[2] He had tremendous quickness despite being 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) and 265 pounds (120 kg),[3] a combination which usually earned him adouble-team.[2]
During his acting career, Smith specialized in comedic roles in film, television, and television advertising. For about a decade following his retirement from football, he appeared in various commercials forMiller Lite, alongside Chicago Bears linebackerDick Butkus. His best-known role was asMoses Hightower in the first sixPolice Academy movies.[4]
Smith was posthumously diagnosed withchronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurological condition generally related to head trauma. He is one of at least 345NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease.[5]
Smith was born on February 28, 1945, inOrange, Texas, to Willie Ray Smith Sr. and Georgia Oreatha Curl Smith, and raised in nearbyBeaumont. His father, Willie Ray Smith Sr., was a football coach who earned 235 victories at threehigh schools in the Beaumont area. Bubba had the opportunity to play for his father atCharlton-Pollard High School in Beaumont.[2] He developed into one of the state's best-ever high school football players.[6] Smith's younger brotherTody Smith played collegiately for theUniversity of Southern California, and professionally for theDallas Cowboys,Houston Oilers, andBuffalo Bills.
Smith originally had hopes of playingcollege football at theUniversity of Texas. Even thoughLonghornshead coachDarrell Royal regarded him as worthy of anathletic scholarship, Royal was unwilling to offer one in the face ofracial segregation which prevailed throughout thesouthern United States at the time. Texas was then a member of theSouthwest Conference (SWC), which began tointegrate in 1967. The university's football program lagged behind, before acquiescing in1970.
The situation at UT motivated Smith to become a much better player[6] atMichigan State University, where he was anAll-American in both1965 and1966. He was a popular athlete at Michigan State, earning the arresting fan chant of "Kill, Bubba, Kill."
His final game at Michigan State was a10–10 tie withNotre Dame atSpartan Stadium on November 19,1966.[7] With both teams undefeated, untied and ranked atop the national polls going in (The Fighting Irish were ranked #1 at 8–0–0, the Spartans #2 at 9–0–0), the match-up was hyped as the college "Game of the Century".[8] Early in the first quarter, Smith tackled Notre Dame startingquarterbackTerry Hanratty, who sustained aseparated left shoulder. Hanratty was replaced for the remainder of the game byColey O'Brien. Smith, who admitted that Hanratty's injury actually backfired on the Spartans, stated, "That didn't help us any. It just let them put in that O'Brien who's slippery and faster and gave us more trouble. The other guy just sits there and waits, and that's what we wanted."[9] Michigan State finished second behind Notre Dame in the final voting for the national championship.[8]
In 1988, Smith was enshrined in theCollege Football Hall of Fame. Michigan State retired his number 95 jersey on September 23, 2006, prior to the Spartans' home game against Notre Dame, amid repeated cheers of his old slogan from the student section. This game also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the "Game of the Century."
In 1999,Sports Illustrated included him on its All-Century Team for college football.[10]
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Smith was the No. 1 overall pick in the1967 NFL draft, taken by theBaltimore Colts with a selection originally held by the expansionNew Orleans Saints, which had been traded forquarterbackGary Cuozzo. Smith's Michigan State teammate, running backClint Jones, followed him as the second pick. As of 2022[update], Smith is the only Michigan State player to be taken first overall.
Smith spent nine seasons in theNFL as adefensive end and played in the Super Bowl twice in his first five seasons. The heavily-favored Colts lostSuper Bowl III to theNew York Jets and wonSuper Bowl V two years later following the 1970 season. It was Smith's onlySuper Bowl ring. However, in interviews, Smith stated that he would never wear the ring, out of a sense of disappointment that he and his teammates were unable to win Super Bowl III.[11]
Smith was injured at Tampa Stadium in the 1972 preseason, when he ran into a solid steel pole the NFL was using at the time tomark yardage and missed the season. He filed a lawsuit against the Tampa Sports Authority and the NFL for $2.5 million. Smith contended the referees mishandled the markers, creating "an undue hazard". The court battle lasted six years before ending in a mistrial.[12]
Smith was traded from the Colts to theOakland Raiders forRaymond Chester on July 16, 1973.[13] He finished his career with theHouston Oilers. Smith was selected All-Pro one year, All-Conference two years, and went to twoPro Bowls. His legacy is the inspiration behind the documentary,Through the Banks of the Red Cedar, written and directed by MSU teammateGene Washington's daughter,Maya.
After retiring from professional football, Smith began acting in smallmovie and television roles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is perhaps best known for his role asMoses Hightower in thePolice Academy movie series, a role he reprised in all but one of thePolice Academy sequels. He also played as the chauffeur for Ned Beatty's character, Clyde Torkle, in the movieStroker Ace starringBurt Reynolds.
Smith starred in the short-lived television seriesBlue Thunder, partnering withPro Football Hall of Fame defensive starDick Butkus, with whom he frequently costarred in advertisements forMiller Lite beer.[14] Among other television series Smith appeared in wereGood Times,Half Nelson,The Odd Couple,Wonder Woman,Taxi, “Who’s the Boss?”,Hart to Hart,MacGyver,Married... with Children,Family Matters andOpen All Night.
Smith was the longtime spokesman ofBaltimore-arealaw firm Cohen, Snyder, Eisenberg & Katzenberg.
In 1983, Smith published the autobiography entitledKill, Bubba, Kill, in which he stated he felt it was possibleSuper Bowl III had been rigged to enable the Jets to win in order to ensure theAFL–NFL merger proceeded smoothly.[15]
Smith was found dead in his Los Angeles home by his caretaker on August 3, 2011. He died from acute drug intoxication and heart disease.Phentermine, a weight-loss drug, was found in his system. His heart weighed more than twice that of an average similar male. He was 66 years old.[16][17][18]
On May 24, 2016, it was announced that Smith had the brain diseasechronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative illness affecting unknown numbers of former athletes in contact sports. The findings were confirmed by researchers affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, and released with the permission of the executor of Smith's estate.[19][20][21][22]
Smith is the 90th former NFL player found to have had CTE by the researchers at the Boston University brain bank; they have examined 94 former pro players. According to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, on a scale of 1 to 4 used by the neuropathologist who examined Smith's brain, Smith had Stage 3 CTE, with symptoms including cognitive impairment and problems with judgment and planning.[19][22]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | The Odd Couple | Himself | TV series, Season 3, Episode 22 "Take My Furniture, Please" |
| 1978 | Superdome | Moses Gordine | TV movie |
| 1978 | Wonder Woman | Rojak | TV series, Season 2, Episode 13 "Light-fingered Lady" |
| 1979 | A Pleasure Doing Business | Joe Marsh | |
| 1980 | Vega$ | Peter Bridges | Episode "A Deadly Victim" |
| 1981 | Escape from DS-3 | Mac | |
| 1982 | Taxi | Lucius Franklin | |
| 1983 | Stroker Ace | Arnold | |
| 1984 | Police Academy | Cadet Moses Hightower | |
| Blue Thunder | Lyman "Bubba" Kelsey | TV series, 11 episodes | |
| 1985 | Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment | Officer Moses Hightower | |
| 1986 | Black Moon Rising | Agent Johnson | |
| Police Academy 3: Back in Training | Sergeant Moses Hightower | ||
| 1987 | Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol | ||
| The Wild Pair | Benny Avalon | ||
| 1988 | Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach | Sergeant / Lieutenant Moses Hightower | |
| 1989 | Police Academy 6: City Under Siege | ||
| 1990 | Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Himself | |
| 1991 | Married... with Children | "Spare Tire" Dixon | TV series, Season 5, Episode 16 "All Night Security Dude" |
| MacGyver (1985 TV series) | Bailey | Season 7, Episode 10 "Split Decision" | |
| Who's the Boss? | Himself | Season 8, Episode 8 "Death And Love: Part 2" | |
| 1992 | My Samurai | Reverend George | |
| The Naked Truth | Cop | ||
| Coach | Himself | Season 5 episode 8: "The Bachelor Party" | |
| 1993 | Fist of Honor | Detective Johnson | |
| 1993 | Family Matters | Bones | Season 5 episode 5: "Money Out the Window" |
| 1994 | The Silence of the Hams | Olaf | |
| 1994 | Married... with Children | Himself | Season 9 episode 10: "Dud Bowl" |
| 1995 | Drifting School | Peter Jackson | |
| 1997 | Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series) | Security Guard | Season 1 Episode 15: “Hilda and Zelda: the Teenage Years”[23] |
| 2000 | Down 'n Dirty | Detective Jerry Cale | |
| The Flunky | Himself | ||
| 2004 | The Coach | Hulk Referee | Short |
| 2004 | Full Clip | Sleepy | |
| 2008 | Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football | Himself | TV movie |
| 2010 | Blood River | Harold | |
| 2016 | DaZe: Vol. Too [sic] - NonSeNse | Himself | (final film role) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
