Jerry Smith (American football)
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| No. 87 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | July 19, 1943 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Eugene, Oregon | ||||||||
| Date of death: | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. | ||||||||
| Place of death: | Silver Spring, Maryland | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | San Lorenzo (CA) | ||||||||
| College: | Arizona State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1965 / Round: 9 / Pick: 118 | ||||||||
| AFL draft: | 1965 / Round: 18 / Pick: 141 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Gerald "Jerry" Sanford Smith (July 19, 1943 – October 15, 1986) was a professional American football tight end for the National Football League's Washington Redskins from 1965–1977. By the time he retired he held the NFL record for most career touchdowns by a tight end.[1] 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".[1]
Professional career
Playing for Otto Graham's, Vince Lombardi's and George Allen's Redskins, Smith had a stellar career. He played in the 1973 Super Bowl VII, and Sports Illustrated called him "an outstanding receiver among tight ends, with the ability to break open for a long gain". In his career Smith caught 421 passes, including 60 touchdowns, a record for tight ends at the time. He was named All-Pro twice and held several NFL records that stood for years.
Death
Smith died of AIDS on October 15, 1986. He was the first former professional athlete to die of the disease.[1] Although he acknowledged that he had AIDS, he never publicly acknowledged he was gay.[1] Head coach Vince Lombardi, who had a gay brother, demanded a homophobia-free locker room but "not even the legendary Lombardi could insulate him from the crippling societal homophobia of the era".[1] Smith's sexuality was confirmed after his death by former teammate pro NFL football player David Kopay, who had come out of the closet years earlier.[1] The Redskins logo, along with Jerry Smith's uniform number 87, was part of the AIDS quilt.
See also
References
Sources
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- NFL player using deprecated currentteam parameter
- NFL player with pastcoaching parameter
- NFL player with pastexecutive parameter
- Infobox NFL player with debut/final parameters
- 1943 births
- 1986 deaths
- AIDS-related deaths in Maryland
- American Christians
- 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
- LGBT sportspeople from the United States
- Players of American football from Oregon
- Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon
- Washington Redskins players
