Billy Ray Smith Jr., a decorated Arkansas defender who turned into a standout for the San Diego Chargers, died Wednesday at age 64.
Smith’s football story really took shape in Fayetteville.
He arrived at Arkansas in 1979 out of Plano, Texas, High School and lined up as a nose guard planted right over the center on a Hogs defense that leaned on him to clog the middle.
All of us covering the Razorbacks then were more interested in a second-generation player by the same name as his legendary father, Bill Ray Smith Sr. He also was an All-American for the Hogs and won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Colts.
Coaches later moved him out to a standup defensive end spot after figuring out he was a little under-sized where his speed off the edge started turning heads across the Southwest Conference.
The move paid off fast. Smith started for four straight years and by his junior and senior seasons he was a unanimous All-American both times.
He served as one of Arkansas’ team captains in his final season and left Fayetteville with school records that still stand including 63 tackles for loss and 299 total tackles for his career.
When a tie felt like a shocking win
Maybe the best conversation I had with him was near the end of his college career with the Hogs as they were coming on the field for warmups against SMU in Texas Stadium in 1982.
We were walking down the ramp and he was bringing up every subject in the world except the game. When we got to the field I asked him if they were ready for a team I had seen play nearly every game that year and was undefeated.
“We got this today,” he said with his arm on my shoulder. “This ain’t gonna be like last year (a whopping Mustangs’ win in Fayetteville in 1981). See you after the game.”
Arkansas didn’t win but they ended up in a 17-17 tie that probably kept SMU from a national title that year. It wasn’t a win but everybody felt like it because nobody was expecting that against the Erick Dickerson-Craig James “Pony Express” team that ran roughshod over everybody.
That Arkansas development turned Smith into a top prospect. The Chargers made him the fifth overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft and he never left San Diego.
He wore number 54 for a full decade playing linebacker at the pro level after his days battling in the trenches at Arkansas.
Smith’s game translated well to Sundays. He piled up 26.5 sacks 15 interceptions and 14 fumble recoveries across 137 NFL games. His best season came in 1989 when he earned second-team All-Pro honors.
The Chargers later placed him on their 50th Anniversary Team and Arkansas enshrined him in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
From Razorbacks’ nose guard spot to San Diego’s living rooms
Smith’s move from nose guard to defensive end at Arkansas showed the same kind of range he carried into everything else he did.
He built a second career in San Diego broadcasting joining Channel 10 as sports director in 1993 and later co-hosting the “Scott and B.R.” radio show with Scott Kaplan.
He also gave back the way his Hogs teams once battled together. Smith and several Chargers teammates started “Bates Street” an after-school program for local kids and he co-founded the Great Friends Foundation which raised millions of dollars for military families.
Smith met his wife Kimberly Hunt at a United Cerebral Palsy telethon and the two married in 1990.
Their daughter Savannah was born two years later. Earlier this month Smith and Hunt were named Nice Guys of the Year with the gala set for October.
Smith’s family said he faced a long battle with dementia caused by CTE with bravery and dignity.
They said his legacy as a father husband and friend will live on and a memorial celebration will be shared later.
From clogging the middle as a nose guard to becoming a five-time draft standout Smith’s willingness to adapt defined a career that touched two states and thousands of lives.
Key takeaways
- Billy Ray Smith Jr. began his Arkansas career as a nose guard in 1979 before moving to defensive end where he became a two-time unanimous All-American
- The former Razorbacks captain became the fifth overall NFL Draft pick in 1983 and spent his entire 10-year career with the San Diego Chargers
- Smith died Wednesday at 64 after his family said he faced dementia caused by CTE with dignity while his charity work impacted thousands across San Diego
