By Kevin Lavery, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-980696.mp3
East Lansing, MI – Friends and coaches who played with and against football legend Bubba Smith are remembering a man of great talent and leadership. Smith died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 66. Smith is considered one of Michigan State University's greatest players. He helped carry MSU to two consecutive national championship titles. He later went on to a successful career with three NFL teams, and a brief stint as an actor.
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Long before he wore Spartan green, Charles "Bubba" Smith grew up in a world of black and white. He was born in 1945 outside Houston. Growing up, he excelled in both football and basketball. Smith played in segregated leagues, never teaming with or competing against his white peers. Gene Washington was Smith's close friend and on-field rival.
"Bubba was an exceptional football player; great size, very, very intelligent and knowledgeable about football," remembers Washington. "And he played with a lot of aggressiveness. And then, of course, from high school on, he had a lot of scholarship offers,...everyone in the country was trying to recruit him."
Well, not everyone. At the height of Jim Crow, many Southern schools never gave black athletes a second look. But one northern university was very interested in Smith. When Michigan State University football coach Duffy Daughtery came recruiting in Texas, Smith's father - who was also his high school coach - recommended his son and Washington to Daugherty. It was a pivotal moment in both men's lives.
"Playing in a completely segregated league, it meant a lot to us mainly because we were able to show our talent; that we could compete athletically, but also from an educational sense," Washington says.
Bubba Smith dominated Spartan football. When the 6'7" Smith closed in for a tackle, his fans rallied with the chant, "Kill, Bubba, Kill!"
"He was a team player," says George Perles. He started as an assistant coach at MSU in 1966, Bubba's senior year.
"All he wanted to do was win, and he would do anything in his power to make it happen. He was a team player all the way, and was a leader and demanded that his teammates played as hard as he did."
Smith was part of an elite group of four players who each became first round NFL draft picks, including Gene Washington, Clinton Jones and George Webster. Former Spartan defensive coach Hank Bullough remembers Webster and Smith emerging as natural leaders.
"Bubba didn't have to get up and make a speech every week," recalls Bullough. "But he made it to them at the beginning of the year; he told them, he said guys, see what kind of team we have, and we have to live up to it and we've got to play hard and we've got to do everything to win. He said, and we've got a chance to be something special.' That's what Bubba said, and George (Webster) said the same thing; that they had a chance to be something special...and they were special."
Special enough to give MSU two consecutive national championships, in 1965 and 1966.
Thanks, Bubba. Thanks.
The '66 game was historic. The matchup between number one Notre Dame and number two Michigan State ended in a 10-10 tie. The championship trophy went to both teams, a decision that still sparks debate and controversy among college football fans more than four decades later.
Bubba Smith kept on winning in the pros. In 1967, the Baltimore Colts signed him on as the number one overall NFL draft pick. Bubba didn't disappoint. He and the Colts galloped to Super Bowl victory three years later.
Later, Smith played for Oakland and Houston. In the 80's, his fans saw him in a new off-field role as an actor, most notably, as Officer Moses Hightower in the "Police Academy" series.
In the end, Bubba Smith will be remembered for his incredible talent and the prestige he brought to Michigan State University in the 60's. His friend Gene Washington remembers too, but now, with a tinge of sadness.
"I still think about the times when we were playing and the crowd was cheering for him to do well and they had the slogan, Kill, Bubba, Kill,' and those were great moments for us and we were able to win a lot of games back in those days. So, I'm going to miss Bubba. I guess everybody will...but I know I will."
Rest, Bubba. Rest.