Willie Smith (born November 1, 1937) 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 with ...

player. A native of

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

, Smith attended Dunbar High School, a segregated high school for African-American students. He was teammates during high school with

Jim Pace James Edward Pace (January 1, 1936 – March 4, 1983) was an American running back in the National Football League. He was also an All-American halfback who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines teams from 1955 to 1957. Youth Alt ...

, and the two of them opted to attend the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where they were teammates for the school's football team. 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 ...

as a tackle for the

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 ...

team from 1956 to 1958. He was drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in the eighth round (94th overall pick) of the 1959 NFL Draft, but he opted instead to play in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

. Smith appeared in all 14 games for the 1960 Denver Broncos, mostly at the

right guard Right Guard is an American brand of deodorant and shower gel that is manufactured and sold by Thriving Brands LLC. It is the second largest brand in the male deodorant category in the United States. Right Guard was introduced in 1960 by The Gi ...

position. In August 1961, the Broncos traded Smith to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

for

Gene Prebola Eugene Nicholas Prebola (June 30, 1938 – December 10, 2021) was an American football tight end who played four seasons in the American Football League (AFL) with the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in ...

. He was the starting left guard for the 1961 Oakland Raiders, appearing in all 14 games. He was placed on waivers by the Raiders in late August 1962.

References

1937 births Living people American football offensive linemen Michigan Wolverines football players Oakland Raiders players Denver Broncos (AFL) players Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas American Football League players {{Offensive-lineman-1930s-stub