Jackie Smith
| No. 81 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Date of birth: | February 23, 1940 | ||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Columbia, Mississippi | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Kentwood (LA) | ||||||||||
| College: | Northwestern State | ||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1963 / Round: 10 / Pick: 129 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||
| Receptions: | 480 |
|---|---|
| Receiving yards: | 7,918 |
| Touchdowns: | 40 |
| Games played: | 210 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Jackie Larue Smith (born February 23, 1940) is a former professional American football tight end in the National Football League for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. He attended Northwestern Louisiana State College, now Northwestern State University.
Smith attended Kentwood High School, where he started out playing the clarinet for the school's band. He decided to try out for the football team as a sophomore, but suffered a torn Achilles tendon that forced him to sit out the season. As a junior, he had osteomyelitis in his ankle, so he could only play in the second half of the last game of the season.
In his last year, he was named the starting tailback in the team's single-wing formation, but suffered a serious hip injury in the fourth game and could not play the rest of the way, finishing his high school career after appearing in only 5 games.
He also lettered in track and field, competing in the mile relay, the quarter-mile, the low and high hurdles. He won a state championship in the hurdles.
Northwestern Louisiana State College could only offer him half a scholarship for track, unless he would also agree to play football, so he could qualify for a full scholarship.
Smith initially joined the football team to fulfill this provision, but he was good enough to become a starter. During his college career he had few opportunities to prove his true worth in the Demon's run-oriented offense, leading the team in receiving in his last two years, but recording modest stats. In track he competed in the hurdles.
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