Verda T. "Vitamin" Smith, Jr. (October 30, 1923 – February 14, 2000) was a

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)

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 ...

for the Los Angeles Rams from 1949 through 1953. Smith served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and participated in the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

before enrolling at Abilene Christian University where he sprinted, threw javelin and played college football for the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

. In the NFL, Smith was a

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. In 1950, he set a record by returning three kicks for touchdowns in a single season. That record would stand until 1967.

References

1923 births 2000 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American football running backs American football return specialists Abilene Christian Wildcats football players Los Angeles Rams players People from Lake Dallas, Texas Players of American football from Denton County, Texas People from Sweetwater, Texas {{runningback-1920s-stub