Jerry Smith (football player)
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Gerald Thomas Smith (July 19, 1943 – October 15, 1986) was a professional American football tight end for the National Football League's Washington Redskins for 13 seasons, from
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
through
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
. By the time he retired, he held the NFL record for most career touchdowns by a tight end. Smith publicly announced he had AIDS in August 1986, being the first professional athlete to do so. He died two months later. A 2014 documentary from the NFL Network's ''A Football Life'' series profiles his career, as well as his "double life as a closeted gay man and a star athlete."


Professional career

Smith attended Arizona State, where he did not play football until his junior season. Joining the team as a walk-on wide receiver in 1964, Smith caught 9 passes for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns in 9 games. The following season, Smith was converted to tight end, and went on to catch 42 passes for 618 yards and 5 touchdowns. Selected in the
ninth round In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
(118th overall) of the
1965 NFL Draft The 1965 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failur ...
, - where his team mates included Charley Taylor, and his college friends included David Mixner - Smith was also drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 18th round of the 1965 AFL Draft. Smith developed his Redskins career as a running and catching tight end under head coaches Bill McPeak, Otto Graham and most memorably under Vince Lombardi, who had a positive approach to gay players. After Lombardi's death, under George Allen his role changed to mainly blocking, leading the team to
Super Bowl VII Super Bowl VII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
at the end of the
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
season. In the fourth quarter with the Redskins trailing the Miami Dolphins, quarterback
Billy Kilmer William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He w ...
tried a pass to Smith who was running across the end zone, but the ball hit the goal post. Although the Redskins lost the game 14-7, '' Sports Illustrated'' called Smith "an outstanding receiver among tight ends, with the ability to break open for a long gain." In 1976 the Redskins signed the larger and faster
Jean Fugett Jean Schloss Fugett, Jr. (born December 16, 1951) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. He played college football at Amherst College. Early years Born and raised ...
, who Smith helped and assisted in his integration to the team. In the same year, he was quietly approached by Washington Star journalist Lynn Rosellini with regards her series of gay sports people. Smith contributed on the understanding that neither his name, team or position were revealed. Rosellini opened her article with a description of Smith's hands, which led former team mate Dave Kopay to recognize the player as Smith, and hence lead to Kopay telephoning Rosellini and becoming the first former football player to come out two days later. Despite his skills having diminished, coach Allen kept bringing Smith back into the Redskins roster due to his work ethic. Smith made one catch in 1977, and spent the 1978 season on the injured list. Smith caught 421 passes, including 60 touchdowns, a career record for tight ends at the time and the 17th highest total in NFL history. His record held for 27 years, beaten by Shannon Sharpe on November 16, 2003. His 421 receptions were the third highest total ever by a tight end when he retired, trailing only Hall of Famers Mike Ditka and Jackie Smith. Smith was named All-Pro twice and held several NFL records that stood for years. In 2011, the
Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/hist ...
named Smith to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2011. In , as a part of a
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tour in association with the NFL, Smith, along with other stars
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
,
Butch Byrd George Edward "Butch" Byrd (born September 20, 1941) is a former professional American football defensive back. He started his career playing college football at Boston University. He joined the Buffalo Bills in 1964 and immediately made an imp ...
, Fred Hoaglin,
George Kunz George Kunz (born July 5, 1947) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League from 1969–1978 and 1980 with the Atlanta Falcons 1969–1974 and History of the Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Colts 1975-1978 & 1 ...
, and
Tom Woodeshick Thomas Woodeshick (; born December 3, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). Woodeshick played football at Hanover Township High School and college football at Wes ...
, visited and signed autographs for wounded military personnel in Vietnam. From 1967 to 1970, Smith was a full time starter for the Redskins. He missed several games in 1971 to injury, but was back as a full time starter the following season, and would be until his final season in 1977. During his career, Smith made several All-Pro teams.


Coming out

After officially retiring at the end of the 1978 season, Smith quietly came out as gay to a few family members. This allowed him to explain why he moved to Austin, Texas, where he co-owned the gay bar "The Boathouse" – a decision he later regretted. Smith moved back to the support of his family in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1986, where looking thinner and coughing, he was diagnosed at the Holy Cross Hospital with HIV. After discussing the matter with his family and friends, he contacted '' Washington Post'' journalist
George Solomon George Solomon (born c. 1940) is an American journalist who served as a sports editor and columnist at ''The Washington Post'' and was the first ombudsman for ESPN. Biography Solomon graduated from the University of Florida in 1963. He began wor ...
– the ground rule being that they did not discuss how he got the disease – with the resultant front page article published on August 7, 1986. He was subsequently visited and supported by all of his former teammates and coaches.


Death

Smith died of
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
at age 43 on October 15, 1986, at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was the first former professional athlete to die of the disease. Although he acknowledged that he had AIDS, he never publicly acknowledged he was gay. At a funeral attended by all of his former team mates and coaches - some of whom also acted as coffin bearers - Smith was buried at
Gate of Heaven Cemetery Gate of Heaven Cemetery, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City, was established in 1917 at 10 West Stevens Ave. in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, as a Roman Catholic burial site. Among its famous residents is b ...
in Silver Spring. Head coach Vince Lombardi, who had a gay brother, demanded a
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
free locker room but "not even the legendary Lombardi could insulate him from the crippling societal homophobia of the era." Shortly before he died, Smith said: "Every important thing a man searches for in his life, I found in Coach Lombardi. He made us men." Smith's sexuality was confirmed after his death by former teammate pro NFL football player David Kopay, who had
come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
years earlier. Kopay referred to a sexual encounter with Smith, using an alias for him, in his autobiography. After the book's publication, Smith never spoke to Kopay again. The Redskins logo, along with Smith's uniform number 87, was part of the AIDS quilt. After a period of time post his death, some of Smith's teammates said they knew he was gay. Brig Owens, a safety for the Redskins at the time who also roomed with Smith, said Smith lived in fear, because if people knew he was gay, he would be done in football. He said Smith was afraid that people would take away something that he loved. Owens was one of the players on the team that knew for sure Smith was gay. Dave Kopay was briefly a teammate of Smith's. Kopay came out in 1972, after his playing career ended. He also wrote an autobiography about having a relationship with a teammate. Even though Kopay used an alias, Smith knew Kopay was talking about him. After the autobiography came out, Smith never spoke to Kopay again. Of all of his teammates, Smith was closer to Owens than perhaps anyone else. Their bond was so tight, Owens' own daughters referred to Smith as 'Uncle Jerry'. Redskins center
Len Hauss Leonard Moore Hauss (July 11, 1942 – December 15, 2021) was an American professional American football, football player who was a Center (gridiron football), center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins from 1964 Wa ...
was another close friend to Smith as well. On one occasion, a player said a word Hauss did not like (most likely a gay slur) and Hauss confronted the player and said he'd better not hear that word in the locker room again - and it never was again. In 2014, the NFL network aired ''A Football Life: Jerry Smith''. The hour long show was about Smith, his career, and his death from AIDS. Brig Owens was interviewed during commercial breaks. When asked if Smith belongs in the Hall of Fame, Owens replied that Smith would be in the hall already if he was not gay.


See also

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Homosexuality in American football There has been only one player who has publicly come out as gay or bisexual while being an active player in the National Football League (NFL): Carl Nassib, who revealed himself as gay on June 21, 2021. He later became the first openly gay player ...


References


Sources

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jerry 1943 births 1986 deaths AIDS-related deaths in Maryland American football tight ends Arizona State Sun Devils football players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Gay sportsmen LGBT Christians LGBT people from Oregon LGBT players of American football Players of American football from Oregon Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon Washington Redskins players 20th-century American LGBT people American LGBT sportspeople