Frederic Charles Smerlas (born April 8, 1957) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

who was a five-time NFL

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection during a 14-year career as a

with the Buffalo Bills,

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

and New England Patriots. Smerlas, of

Greek-American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest es ...

descent, graduated from

Waltham High School Waltham High School is a public high school located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only high school operated by Waltham Public Schools. History The current Waltham High School was constructed in 1968 and expanded in 1998 a ...

in 1975, where he was a star football player and wrestler. He became a defensive lineman for Boston College before embarking on an NFL career. Smerlas' 1990 autobiography, ''By a Nose'', recounts his 11 years with the Bills and their climb from cellar-dwellers to Super Bowl contenders. Smerlas currently resides in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

and is a part-time co-host during football season on sports radio

WEEI-FM WEEI-FM (93.7 MHz) – branded SportsRadio 93.7 WEEI-FM – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WEEI-FM is the Boston aff ...

, NBC Sports Boston - The New England Tailgate Show, as well as a contributor to western New York radio station

WHAM (AM) WHAM (1180 kHz) is a commercial clear channel AM radio station in Rochester, New York, United States. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs a news/talk radio format. The studios and offices are at Five Star Bank Plaza in downtown Rochester. I ...

in Rochester. In 2018, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Smerlas to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2018. Two Time, Two sport All American in Wrestling and Football in High School; Two time New England heavyweight wrestling champ. During Smerlas' playing career, he was the only player in the NFL who was of Greek descent.

Fred & Steve's Steakhouse

Smerlas, along with friend and colleague Steve DeOssie, opened an award-winning steakhouse at the

Twin River Casino Bally's Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort, previously Twin River Casino Hotel, is a casino, hotel, and former race track in Lincoln, Rhode Island, owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. The facility has of gaming space, with 4,108 slot machin ...

Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,529 at the 2020 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence. Lincoln is part of the Providence metropolitan statistical ar ...

in March 2007 called Fred & Steve's Steakhouse.

Political career

A Boston Herald article announced on April 6, 2007 that Fred considered seeking the Massachusetts 5th US Congressional seat being vacated by Martin T. Meehan as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate. In 2010, Smerlas expressed an interest in relocating to

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY i ...

to challenge

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 2005. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 but as the 26th since 2013, includes Buffalo and N ...

Louise Slaughter Dorothy Louise Slaughter (née McIntosh, August 14, 1929 – March 16, 2018) was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States Representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018. She served as the Dean of the ...

, believing that they have not adequately represented Western New York or the upstate region as a whole. He indicated that his son was considering attending the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

, and if he were to relocate, he may run either in 2010 or 2012, later ruling out a 2010 run. He said that his first priority "would be to take a big saw and cut New York City off."

Bibliography

* Fred Smerlas and Vic Carucci, ''By A Nose: The Off-Center Life of Football's Funniest Lineman'', Simon And Schuster, 1990.

References

External links

*
Fred Smerlas Buffalo Hall of Fame

All Pro tailgate party
Home Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Smerlas, Fred 1957 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American football defensive linemen American people of Greek descent Boston College Eagles football players Buffalo Bills players Massachusetts Republicans New England Patriots players Players of American football from Massachusetts San Francisco 49ers players Sportspeople from Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham High School alumni

Fred & Steve's Steakhouse

Political career

See also

Bibliography

References

External links