Leroy Smith (born January 6, 1969) is a former college football player for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1988 to 1991. He was a defensive lineman that was named a consensus first team All-American and the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

's Defensive Player of the Year in 1991.

Playing career

Smith arrived at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

from

Sicklerville, New Jersey Sicklerville is an unincorporated community located within Winslow Township in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. It was founded in 1851 by John Sickler, who lived in the area when the present-day town was located within Gloucester Town ...

. He played

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 ...

in high school but moved to the defensive end position in college, because the Hawkeyes already had a stockpile of good running backs. As a junior in 1990, Smith played on Iowa's Big Ten championship team that went to the Rose Bowl. Smith had perhaps the most dominating senior season a Hawkeye defensive end has ever had. His signature game came against Ohio State in 1991. He recorded 14 tackles, including a school-record five quarterback sacks, in Iowa's 16–9 victory. Smith had 18 sacks on the season, which broke a Big Ten record that had stood for 14 years.Iowa Consensus All-Americans
In 1995 he joined Rhein Fire, a German team that played in the World League of American Football.

Honors

Leroy Smith was named a consensus first team All-American in 1991, as he helped lead Iowa to a 10–1–1 record and a top ten finish in the national rankings. He was also named both the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Leroy 1969 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive ends American football linebackers Iowa Hawkeyes football players People from Winslow Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Camden County, New Jersey Rhein Fire players Toronto Argonauts players