Laverne Smith (born September 12, 1954) is a former

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 wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the

National Football League 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 ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round of the 1977 NFL Draft. He played college football at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

and attended

Wichita Southeast High School Wichita Southeast High School, known locally as Southeast, is a public secondary school in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves students in grades 9 to 12. Southeast is one of many high schoo ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

Early years

Smith played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the Wichita Southeast High School Golden Buffaloes, earning first-team All-City honors in 1971 and 1972. He also participated in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

for the Golden Buffaloes, winning the state championship in the

100-yard dash 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

in 1971. He was inducted into the Southeast High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

College career

Smith played for the Kansas Jayhawks from 1973 to 1976 and was a three-year starter. He garnered All- Big Eight recognition in 1974. He set school records for career rushing yards with 3,192 and single season rushing yards with 1,181 in 1974. Smith also accumulated career totals of 23 rushing touchdowns on 488 attempts, and averaged a stunning 6.5 yards per carry (also a school record). He recorded 217 yards and two touchdowns on 21 receptions. He also participated in track for the Jayhawks, winning the 1976 Big Eight championship in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contes ...

and 440-yard relay. His personal bests were 10.29 for the 100 meters, and 20.44 for the 200 meter dash.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Smith was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 99th pick in the 1977 NFL Draft. He played in seven games for the team, and later suffered a broken leg, during the 1977 season. He spent a few more years on the Steelers roster.

Personal life

Smith later Retired at

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

Wichita.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Laverne Living people 1954 births Players of American football from Mississippi American football running backs African-American players of American football Kansas Jayhawks football players African-American male track and field athletes College men's track and field athletes in the United States Pittsburgh Steelers players People from Greenwood, Mississippi Wichita Southeast High School alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople