Carl Douglas Smith (born November 25, 1956) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player who played the positions of

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

from the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

season through the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

season. Smith attended

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

, in

Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan Are ...

, and graduated from

Northland High School Northland High School (NHS) is a public high school in Columbus, Ohio, United States, NHS is a part of the Columbus City Schools system and opened in 1965. The current principal is Jason Johnson and athletic teams are known as the Vikings with scho ...

in Columbus on June 9, 1974.Doug Smith Past Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards - databaseFootball.com

Rams career

After serving in a backup role for 4 years, Smith replaced

Rich Saul Richard Robert Saul (February 5, 1948 – April 15, 2012) was an American football offensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1970 through 1981, all with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at Mic ...

as the starting center in 1982. In that 1982 to 1991 span, the Rams made the playoffs 6 times: 1983 to 1986, 1988, and 1989. Los Angeles won a wild card game in the

1983–84 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 1983 season began on December 24, 1983. The postseason tournament concluded with the Los Angeles Raiders defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII, 38–9, on January 22, 1984, at Tampa St ...

against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, as Smith with guards

Kent Hill Kent Angelo Hill (born March 7, 1957) is an American former professional footalll player who was an offensive lineman for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for t ...

and

Dennis Harrah Dennis Wayne Harrah (born March 9, 1953) is a former offensive lineman who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the University of Miami. He played for and graduated from ...

and with tackles Bill Bain and

Jackie Slater Jackie Ray Slater (born May 27, 1954), nicknamed "Big Bad Jackie", is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career with the Rams fra ...

led

Eric Dickerson Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Dickerson played college football for the Mustangs of Southern Me ...

to 99 rushing yards, but lost to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the divisional round. In the

1984–85 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 1984 NFL season, 1984 season began on December 22, 1984. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX, 38–16, on January 20, 1985, a ...

, Los Angeles lost in the divisional round again, this time to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. In the

1985–86 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 1985 season began on December 28, 1985. The postseason tournament concluded with the Chicago Bears defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX, 46–10, on January 26, 1986, at the Louisiana ...

, Smith was replaced by

Tony Slaton Anthony Tyrone Slaton (born April 12, 1961) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. Slaton played college ...

as the Rams won a divisional round game against the Cowboys, but were shut out in the NFC championship game by the legendary

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

defense of '85. In the

1986–87 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 1986 season began on December 28, 1986. The postseason tournament concluded with the New York Giants defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI, 39–20, on January 25, 1987, at the Rose Bowl in ...

, the Rams lost a wild card game to the Redskins, as Smith, Harrah, and left guard

Tom Newberry Thomas J. Newberry (born December 20, 1962) is a former American football guard from Onalaska, Wisconsin who played ten seasons in the National Football League with the Los Angeles Rams for nine years and the Pittsburgh Steelers for one year. ...

had a somewhat difficult time against their defensive line, rushing 41 times for 138 yards. In the

1988–89 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 1988 season began on December 24, 1988. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII, 20–16, on January 22, 1989, at Joe Rob ...

, the Rams lost a wild card game to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. In the

1989–90 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 1989 season began on December 31, 1989. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV, 55–10, on January 28, 1990, at the Louisiana ...

, the Rams defeated the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the wild card game and the Giants in the divisional round, but lost to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the NFC championship game. In the Philly game, Smith, with Newberry and Slaton at guards,

Irv Pankey Irvin Lee Pankey (born February 15, 1958) is a former American football offensive lineman who played twelve seasons in the National Football League, mainly for the Los Angeles Rams. He played tight end and offensive tackle at Penn State and was a ...

and Slater at tackles, helped Greg Bell rush for 124 yards in 23 carries. In the Giant game, the same offensive line (except for

Duval Love Duval Love (born June 24, 1963) is a former American football guard. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Biography Love was born in Los Angeles, Calif ...

replacing Slaton at right guard), led Bell to 87 yards rushing in 19 carries in their over-time victory. Then the Rams plummeted to 5–11 and 3–13 won-lost records in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, Smith was replaced by

Bern Brostek Bern Orion Brostek (born September 11, 1966) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams from 1990 to 1997. High school Brostek played high school football for Iolani School ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Doug 1956 births Living people Players of American football from Columbus, Ohio American football offensive guards American football centers Bowling Green Falcons football players Los Angeles Rams players National Conference Pro Bowl players Ed Block Courage Award recipients