What a tragic loss, and so young. A gentle giant who illuminated football both college and professionally. He was also extremely great in the police academy movies...
Bubba Smith dies at 66
Smith, a standout at Michigan State, spent five seasons with the Baltimore Colts and two seasons each with Oakland and Houston. (AP Photo)
PLAYING FIELD TO BIG SCREEN
The late Bubba Smith made quite a name for himself in film after his playing days ended. But he wasn't the only one.DETROIT -- Henry Bullough kept one of the buttons that became so popular around East Lansing, Mich., during the1966 season, when Michigan State's Charles "Bubba" Smith was terrorizing quarterbacks in college football.
The button, still attached to a bulletin board in Bullough's home, said it all at the time: "Kill, Bubba, Kill."
Smith, a defensive end, was just bigger and faster than almost everyone else in his era. His combination of size and speed was ahead of its time.
"He changed things," Bullough, who was Smith's defensive coordinator at MSU, said of Bubba's impact on the game. "He was 6-foot-7, 265 pounds, and he could run.
"You didn't have many guys like that (in those days). He's one of the greatest defensive players in college football history."
Smith was found dead, apparently of natural causes, Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 66.
Not only did Bullough coach Smith at Michigan State, Bullough also was an assistant coach for Baltimore in 1970 when Smith helped lead the Colts to the Super Bowl.
"Just like a son," Bullough said of his relationship with Smith, a native of Beaumont, Tex. "He was a great guy. He was supposed to come back to Michigan State in two months to do a big fund-raiser for the George Webster Scholarship Fund."
Smith and Webster were part of a talented group of African-American football players from the South who were recruited to Michigan State by the late coach Duffy Daugherty at a time when it was uncommon for blacks to attend universities in the North.
They turned Michigan State's football program into a powerhouse. In Smith's final two years, the Spartans were 19-1-1, 14-0 in the Big Ten, and finished No. 2 in the Associated Press poll each season. The only loss was to UCLA in the Rose Bowl during the '65 season. The tie was the legendary 10-10 game against Notre Dame in '66.
George Perles, a former Michigan State player/assistant coach/head coach/athletic director and current member of the board of trustees, wasn't at MSU during Smith's college career.
But Perles watched Smith in awe like everyone else, and he knows all the stories.
"The students started the 'Kill, Bubba, Kill,' chants," said Perles, who returned to MSU and joined Daugherty's staff in 1967, a year after Smith's heroics. "The kids loved him. They had buttons, signs, everything.
"Bubba was such a visible player. When he got down in his stance, the poor opponent who had to line up against him was just so much smaller and weaker. Bubba was huge. But he didn't take advantage of it. He played by the rules. He didn't take advantage of his size off the field either.
"Bubba was Duffy's favorite. Duffy loved to give poor kids and minorities a chance. Whenever Bubba came back, he and Duffy would hug each other."
One of Perles' fondest memories of Smith was when he made a pre-game speech to the Spartans before a game at Notre Dame years ago.
"He liked to come back for the Notre Dame game," Perles said. "They gave him the floor."
Asked if he could remember what Bubba said, Perles answered, "Yeah, but I can't tell you."
Perles laughed before adding, "I'll say this, he got them fired up."
Smith made only 30 tackles (10 for loss) during his senior year, but that was because opponents constantly double- and triple-teamed him, and ran to the other side of the field to avoid the Spartans' dominating defensive end.
Smith was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988. His jersey No. 95 was retired by Michigan State in 2006.
After leaving East Lansing, Smith was the No. 1 pick overall in the 1967 NFL Draft by Baltimore. He played nine seasons in the league (Colts 1967-71, Oakland 1973-74 and Houston Oilers 1975-76). Smith was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1970 and '71.
His fame continued long after his playing days. Bubba went on to appear in commercials and became a TV and movie star out in Hollywood. He is well-known for his role as Moses Hightower in the Police Academy movies.
In one of his commercials for Miller Lite, Smith described himself as a player. "I had my own way of tackling," Smith said. "I used to grab the whole backfield. Then I threw guys out until I found the one with the ball."
It was only a slight exaggeration, which is why "Kill, Bubba, Kill" was so appropriate at the time.
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