Joseph O'Brien Smith (born August 26, 1979) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

player in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. Smith plays the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

position. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, in only his second season with the team, Smith became the BC Lions' all-time single-season rushing leader (breaking the previous record of 1,510 yards).

College career

Born in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

, Smith's hometown is

Cleveland, Texas Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Liberty County. The population was 7,471 at the 2020 census. History In 1854, a church and convent were built by Father Pet ...

. Smith played collegiately as a

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

for 2 years following his transfer from the

New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports to the G ...

. At Louisiana Tech, Smith rushed for 2,189 yards and added 450 receiving yards to go along with 25

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. As a senior, Smith was selected to the First-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

Team and was named his team's offensive

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Smith graduated from Louisiana Tech with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

Professional career

NFL career

Following his graduation from Louisiana Tech, Smith began his professional football career in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

running back with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. However, he was cut after spending 15 weeks on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, following his release from Jacksonville and a one-week stint with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

, Smith signed with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

and was allocated to the

Rhein Fire Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * SM ...

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

where he became the team's starting running back.

CFL career (BC Lions & Winnipeg Blue Bombers)

Smith signed as a free agent with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

in May,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and replaced

Antonio Warren Antonio Warren (born November 25, 1975, in San Francisco, California) is a former Canadian Football League running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back a ...

as their starting running back when Warren was released in July. In 14 games with the Lions during the 2006 season, Smith rushed 166 times for 887 yards and 9 touchdowns with only 2 fumbles and caught 51 passes for 420 yards and one touchdown. Smith rushed for 116 yards on 9 carries in the

2006 Grey Cup The 94th Grey Cup game took place on November 19, 2006, at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba before 44,786 fans. Ticket prices ranged from $141 and $275. The game decided the championship of the 2006 Canadian Football League season. The BC ...

game, which the Lions won over the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

by a score of 25-14. During the

2007 CFL season The 2007 CFL season was the 54th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 50th season of the Canadian Football League, and many special events were held to commemorate the event. Regular-season play began on June 28, 2007 at the Rogers Centre ...

, Smith broke former Lion great

Cory Philpot Cory Philpot (born May 15, 1970) is a Canadian football coach and a former professional running back who is currently the head coach for the Langley Rams of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL). He played for eight seasons in the Canadian Fo ...

's single season rushing record of 1,510 yards in an October 28 game against the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

. Smith finished the 2007 season as the CFL's rushing and rushing touchdowns leader (with 1,510 yards and 18 touchdowns, respectively), was named a

CFL All-Star The Canadian Football League played an all-star game regularly during the 1950s and 1970s and twice in the 1980s. 1950s The first game in 1955 actually precedes the establishment of the Canadian Football Council and the CFL, and was known as the ...

for the first time, and won the Western Division's

Eddie James Memorial Trophy The Eddie James Memorial Trophy is a Canadian Football League trophy, awarded to the leading rusher in the West Division. Unlike other CFL trophies, there is no equivalent for the East Division. The award is named after Eddie James, a former r ...

(as the Western Division's leading rusher). On September 1, 2008, Smith was traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for fellow RB Charles Roberts. He was released by Winnipeg on June 25, 2009.

References

External links

Joe Smith's ''CFL.ca'' bioESPN.com pageNFLPlayers.com page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Joe 1979 births Living people People from Cleveland, Texas Sportspeople from Monroe, Louisiana American players of Canadian football African-American players of Canadian football American football running backs Canadian football running backs New Mexico Military Institute Broncos football players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tennessee Titans players Rhein Fire players BC Lions players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople