J.D. Smith Jr. (July 19, 1931 – April 1, 2015) was an American football running back in the National Football League for the

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 ...

, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at North Carolina A&T State University.

Early years

Smith attended Sterling High School, where he practiced football, basketball and baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from North Carolina A&T State University. He was named the starter at

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

as a sophomore, leading the team with 73 carries for 396 yards (5.4 avg.) and 8 touchdowns in 10 games. He led the team again as a senior, appearing in 8 games with 89 carries for 482 yards (5.3 avg.) and 4 touchdowns. In 1971, he was inducted as an inaugural member into the North Carolina A&T Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Smith was selected by the

in the fifteenth round (179th overall) of the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 NFL season, 1955 National Football League NFL draft, draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick New York Hotel, Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the List of first overall National Football League Dra ...

. He spend the year out of football serving his military service in the Korean War. He returned in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

, but the team had a surplus of running backs ( Rick Casares, Bobby Watkins, John Hoffman, J.C. Caroline and Perry Jeter), so he was moved to the defensive side. He was used as a kick off returner, linebacker and safety, before being waived after the sixth game of the season.

San Francisco 49ers

, he was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco 49ers and played the remaining 5 games of the season as a reserve

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. The next year, he played at left cornerback, registering 2 interceptions and finishing third in the league with a 26.3-yard average in kickoff returns. In

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, while he served as a kickoff returner, he was eased into the running back position until the eleventh game of the season when he ran for 113 yards on seven carries, including and 80-yard touchdown. He was dubbed the "Cinderella Workhorse" by 49ers historian Donn Sinn, for his inauspicious route into prominence. In

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, Hugh McElhenny was moved to

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

and Smith was named the starter at left halfback alongside Joe Perry. He finished second in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

(behind

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

) with 1,036 rushing yards, becoming the second player in franchise history to have a 1,000-yard rushing season (Perry was the first one) and tied a team record with 10 rushing touchdowns. In the following years he played halfback and

, leading the team in rushing for 5 consecutive seasons. He also was a part of the 'Alphabet Backfield', that included

Y. A. Tittle Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. (October 24, 1926 – October 8, 2017) was a professional American football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Baltimore Colts, after spe ...

R.C. Owens Raleigh Climon Owens (November 12, 1934 – June 17, 2012) was a professional American football end and halfback from 1957 through 1964. Owens graduated from Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, and attended the College of Idaho ...

and

C.R. Roberts Cornelius R. Roberts (February 29, 1936 – July 11, 2023) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojan ...

. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, he was a backup and rushed for 55 yards on 13 carries. On September 6,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#69- Mel Phillips). At the time he ranked second all-time on the 49ers career rushing list with 4,370 yards.

Dallas Cowboys

, he was acquired by the Dallas Cowboys to be a backup

for

Don Perkins Donald Anthony Perkins (March 4, 1938 – June 9, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of New Mexico ...

. On September 5,

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, he was released after the team decided to keep rookie running back

Craig Baynham Gordon Craig Baynham (born July 24, 1944, in Casper, Wyoming) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, and St. Louis Cardinals. He was drafted in the 12th round of th ...

Personal life

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, he was hired as a scout for the San Francisco 49ers and remained in that post for 7 years. He worked as a security executive at Sears until his retirement in 1991. Smith died on April 1, 2015, in his home in Oakland, California.

References

External links

Former 49ers RB J.D. Smith Passes Away at 83
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, J.D. 1931 births 2015 deaths Players of American football from Greenville, South Carolina American football running backs North Carolina A&T Aggies football players Chicago Bears players San Francisco 49ers players Dallas Cowboys players Western Conference Pro Bowl players San Francisco 49ers scouts