Steve Smith (born December 19, 1962) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

. He was the starting quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1981 to 1983. He also played 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 c ...

for the Montreal Concordes in 1984 and the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

in 1985.

Early years

Smith attended

Grand Blanc High School Grand Blanc High School (GBHS) is a public high school in Grand Blanc, Michigan, in the United States. It is managed by Grand Blanc Community Schools. Demographics The demographic breakdown of the 2699 students enrolled for the 2012–2013 sc ...

Grand Blanc, Michigan Grand Blanc is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 7,784 as of the 2020 US Census. History The unincorporated village of Grand Blanc, or Grumlaw, was a former Indian campground firs ...

. He also played high school football for Swartz Creek prior to transferring to Grand Blanc for his senior year, joining his former high school coach.

University of Michigan

Smith 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 ...

for

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

teams from 1980 to 1983. As a sophomore, Smith started all 12 games for the 1981 Wolverines and led the team to a record of 8–3 in the regular season and a win over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the

1981 Bluebonnet Bowl The 1981 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on December 31, 1981. It was the 23rd Bluebonnet Bowl game. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UCLA Bruins by a score of 33–14. This was the first bowl game meeting of a ...

. He had his best statistical season in 1981, completing 97 of 210 passes for 1,661 yards and 15 touchdowns while also rushing for 674 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a junior, Smith again started all 12 games at quarterback for the 1982 Wolverines, leading the team to a record of 8–3 in the regular season, and a berth in the 1983 Rose Bowl, where the Wolverines lost to UCLA, 24–14. Receiver Anthony Carter was Smith's main target in 1981 and 1982, earning All-American honors both years. Smith completed 118 of 227 passes in 1982 for 1,735 yards, though his rushing total dropped to 387 yards on 83 carries. He also threw a career-high 13 interceptions in 1982. He was also selected by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

as the second-team quarterback on its 1982 All-Big Ten Conference football team. As a senior in 1983, Smith threw four touchdown passes and rushed for a fifth in a 42–10 victory over the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

. He led the 1983 Wolverines to a 9–2 record in the regular season and a berth in the 1984 Sugar Bowl, where the Wolverines lost to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, 9–7. Smith completed 106 out of 205 passes for 1,420 yards and rushed for 667 yards on 103 attempts during the 1983 season. Smith was 26–10 as a starter for the Wolverines, completing 324 of 648 passes for 4,860 yards, 42 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. He also rushed 1,736 yards on 329 carries (5.3 yards per carry) and 31 rushing touchdowns.(Smith's statistics can be retrieved by typing "smith" into the space provided for the player's last name.) When he finished his career at Michigan, he was also the team's all-time leading passer, a record that has since been surpassed.

Professional football

In March 1984, Smith signed a contract to play for the Montreal Concordes in the

(CFL). During the 1984 CFL season, completing 19 of 45 passes for 263 yards, three touchdowns and seven interceptions. In 1985, Smith was on the roster of the

. Smith signed a contract with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in April 1986, but did not appear in any regular season games with the club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Steve 1962 births Living people American football quarterbacks American players of Canadian football Canadian football quarterbacks Michigan Wolverines football players Montreal Concordes players Ottawa Rough Riders players People from Grand Blanc, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan