Ronnie Bernard Smith (born November 20, 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 ...

wide receiver who played in 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) for six seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, the San Diego Chargers, and 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 ...

. Smith played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Kathleen High School Kathleen Senior High School is the second oldest of four high schools in Lakeland, Florida, United States. It was originally housed north of its present location, at the site of the current Kathleen Middle School.Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

. At and , he received an offer to play for

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

, and instead enrolled at

Fullerton College Fullerton College (FC) is a Public college, public community college in Fullerton, California. The college is part of the California Community Colleges System and the North Orange County Community College District. Established in 1913, it is the ...

. He switched to playing wide receiver after his first year, and was a Junior College All-American the following season, when he earned a scholarship to play with

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. As a senior in 1977, Smith caught 49 passes for around 700 yards and 14 touchdowns and was a key to the Aztecs' 10–1 season. In the 1978 NFL draft, Smith was selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Rams. He caught just one pass as a rookie in 1978. A seldom-used sophomore in 1979, he caught a 43-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

from

Vince Ferragamo Vince Anthony Ferragamo (born April 24, 1954) is an American former gridiron football player. He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). Early years Born in Torrance, ...

at the end of the first half to give the Rams a 14–5 lead in an eventual 21–19 win over

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

in the divisional playoffs. In Super Bowl XIV, Smith caught a 24-yard touchdown on a halfback option pass from

Lawrence McCutcheon Lawrence McCutcheon (born June 2, 1950) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams from 1972 to 1980, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks in 1980, and 1981 with the Buff ...

, but the Rams loss 31–19 to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The San Diego Chargers acquired him from the Rams at the end of the preseason in 1980 for a middle-round draft pick. He caught just four passes for 48 yards during the regular season for San Diego. However, he came up with another key playoff touchdown when he caught a game-winning 50-yard score from

Dan Fouts Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951) is an American former football quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) throughout his 15-season career (1973-87). After a relatively undistinguished fi ...

with 2:08 remaining in a 20–14 win over the

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

, advancing the Chargers to the AFC Championship Game. After his NFL career, Smith signed with the

Oakland Invaders The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The team can trac ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) in 1984. Smith played in six games, starting five, and caught nine passes for 107 yards and one touchdown before being placed on injured reserve on May 30, 1984.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ron 1956 births Living people American football wide receivers Los Angeles Rams players Philadelphia Eagles players San Diego Chargers players San Diego State Aztecs football players Sportspeople from Lakeland, Florida Players of American football from Florida