College Football Hall of Famer Billy Ray Smith Jr. Dead at 64 From CTE

Who Billy Ray Smith Jr. Was

If you weren't a Chargers fan in the 1980s, you might not know the name. You should. Smith was a first-round pick out of the University of Arkansas, selected fifth overall in the 1983 NFL Draft, the first defensive player off the board in that entire class. He spent all ten of his NFL seasons in San Diego, never once suiting up for another team.

The New York Post reports that in 1986, Smith posted a career-high 11 sacks and forced four fumbles. The following year, playing in only 12 games because of the players' strike, he still managed to intercept five passes. By 1989 he was Second-Team All-Pro. Not a mercenary, not a journeyman. A Charger for life, in the truest sense of the phrase.

Before all of that, he was a monster at Arkansas. Two-time All-American. Team captain. 299 career tackles, 63 of them for a loss. Lou Holtz, who coached him in Fayetteville, once said: "Billy Ray is so quick he plays tennis with himself." That's the kind of thing coaches say about maybe one player per generation.

The Man Behind the Linebacker

Here is what separates Smith from just being a box score. The guy was genuinely, apparently, a force of nature as a human being. Chargers owner Dean Spanos, in a statement reported by the New York Post, called him "truly, larger than life. Always smiling. Lighting up every room he walked into."

Smith worked with teammates to create an after-school program called "Bates Street" for local kids. He met his wife, ABC 10News anchor Kimberly Hunt, during a United Cerebral Palsy telethon. After his playing days he became a fixture on San Diego television and radio. The man never really left the community that adopted him. He just changed uniforms.

In 2009, Chargers fans voted him one of the 50 greatest players in franchise history. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame back in 2000, the sixth Arkansas Razorback to receive that honor. When he accepted, he said he wished he could have brought every teammate from those huddles with him. "Football is the ultimate team game," he said. "You feel a little bit uncomfortable getting so much praise."

The Kicker Story, Because It Deserves Its Own Section

In a 1985 preseason game against the Saints, both of the Chargers' regular kickers were sidelined with groin injuries. So they turned to their linebacker. Smith, who had last kicked a football in high school, lined up for a field goal with four seconds left and San Diego trailing 20-18.

He made it. Except the officials waved it off because he had tape on his kicking shoe. So, according to the New York Post, Smith threw the shoe away and kicked it again with no time on the clock. Made that one too. Chargers win 21-20. This is a completely real thing that happened and it tells you basically everything you need to know about the kind of player Billy Ray Smith Jr. was.

CTE Claims Another One

Smith's family released a statement saying he "faced his long journey with dementia caused by CTE with unmatched bravery, dignity, and strength." He was 64 years old. To put that in perspective: the average American man lives to 76. Smith lost more than a decade, and before that, who knows how many years were swallowed by the slow deterioration that CTE brings.

CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a degenerative brain disease found in people with a history of repeated head trauma. The NFL spent years disputing its existence and its link to football. They lost that argument. What they haven't lost, apparently, is the ability to keep putting players on the field and collecting the revenue while the long-term tab gets paid by families like the Smiths.

Smith is survived by his wife Kimberly and their daughter Savannah. He was 64 years old. He should have had more time.