Remembering Bubba Smith: Part actor, mostly football player

Bubba Smith, who died on August 3, was a teammate of mine. I can see him giving me a stern put-on sneer in response to that claim, and in truth, Bubba and I

Frank Deford | Aug 10, 2011

Remembering Bubba Smith: Part actor, mostly football player /

Bubba Smith, who died on August 3, was a teammate of mine. I can see him giving me a stern put-on sneer in response to that claim, and in truth, Bubba and I were not football teammates.

Rather, we acted together in an ensemble as Lite Beer All-Stars back when Miller used a lot of washed-up old athletes -- and one overwhelmed sports writer -- to hustle what was then a popular new product: a low-calorie beer.

Remember? "Tastes great!" "Less filling!"

The wonderful thing about the campaign was that it thrived on stereotypes: the nearsighted umpire; the dumb blonde bombshell; and ... big, stupid jocks, ideally football players.

Enter ... Bubba Smith.

In his first commercial appearance he ripped off the beer top, saying, guilelessly, "I also love the easy-opening can." He was a natural, and he didn't mind making fun of himself.

I must say, though, that it surprised me some when he went on to a comic acting career -- best known on Police Academy -- because, on the All-Star roster, Bubba had the most trouble of all of us with lines. One time, the line he forgot was his own name. Really. We all went bananas.

At Michigan State and then with the Baltimore Colts, by which Smith was the first player selected in the 1967 NFL draft, the fans would scream, "Kill, Bubba, kill," On the field, he was a ruthless defensive end; away from the field, like so many huge athletes, Bubba was gentle and fun.

He played in two Super Bowls with the Baltimore Colts, but surely his most important appearance was in '66, when he was a senior at Michigan State, and the Spartans tied Notre Dame in one of those periodic "Games of the Century." There was also a cultural significance to that game, because the star for Michigan State was Charles Aaron Smith of Beaumont, Texas. Yes, Bubba was in that last generation of southern African-Americans who had to go north to find a college team.

Alabama finished undefeated and untied that season, but the pollsters put the Tide behind Notre Dame and Michigan State because they recognized that Alabama was only unbeaten against white people. It would soon change, precisely because of stars like Bubba Smith who forced the southern schools to take in the black players who were born and developed right there in their own backyards.

Alas, Bubba's greatness ended during a preseason game in the summer of '72, when he ran into a sideline first-down marker. It ripped up his knee horribly. Those chain-gang poles were all hard metal then, but in significant measure because of Bubba's accident, they now have more the consistency of cotton candy. Still, every time I see a player crash harmlessly into them, I think of Bubba. In a way that's his visible legacy, but that's only the less filling part. He was a gentleman of great taste and great talent.

Published Aug 10, 2011

FRANK DEFORD

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium, including print, where he has written eloquently for Sports Illustrated since 1962. Deford is currently the magazine's Senior Contributing Writer and contributes a weekly column to SI.com. Deford can be heard as a commentator each week on Morning Edition. On television he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. He is the author of 15 books, and his latest,The Enitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007 to exceptional reviews. He and Red Smith are the only writers with multiple features in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Editor David Halberstam selected Deford's 1981 Sports Illustrated profile on Bobby Knight (The Rabbit Hunter) and his 1985 SI profile of boxer Billy Conn (The Boxer and the Blonde) for that prestigious anthology. For Deford the comparison is meaningful. "Red Smith was the finest columnist, and I mean not just sports columnist," Deford told Powell's Books in 2007. "I've always said that Red is like Vermeer, with those tiny, priceless pieces. Five hundred words, perfectly chosen, crafted. Best literary columnist, in any newspaper, that I've ever seen." Deford was elected to the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Six times at Sports Illustrated Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review. Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles; a Christopher Award; and journalism honor awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University; and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "The world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won a Cable Ace award, an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for his television work. In 2005 ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play. Deford has spoken at well over a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world. He served as the editor-in-chief of The National Sports Daily in its brief but celebrated existence. Deford also wrote Sports Illustrated's first Point After column, in 1986. Two of Deford's books, the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays have also been filmed. For 16 years Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, CT, with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children – a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught American Studies.