| Phoney Smith | |
| Birth Date: | 26 June 1905 |
| Birth Place: | Fayetteville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Palm Beach County, Florida, U.S. |
| Currentposition: | Halfback |
| School: | Mercer Bears |
| Class: | Graduate |
| Pastschools: | Mercer (1925–1927) |
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Joseph Farrar "Phoney" Smith[1] (June 26, 1905 – October 27, 1985) was an American college football player and high school coach and athletic director.
"Phoney" was a prominent halfback for the Mercer Baptists of Mercer University. His brother was Crook Smith. He was elected to the Mercer Athletics Hall of Fame in 1971,[2] and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1969.[3] Smith was a teammate of later Georgia coach Wally Butts and played for coach Bernie Moore.[4]
Smith was selected All-Southern in 1927.[5] called by one writer "the best athlete who ever put on a Mercer uniform."[6] Smith was the first Southern player to cross the goal line against the "dream and wonder" team of Georgia on a 95-yard kickoff.
In the late 1920s, he went on to play semi-pro football with the Ironton Tanks in Ironton, Ohio, a team that was the forerunner of the Cleveland Browns.[3] [7] [8]
Smith was a coach and athletic director at South Broward High School, where he taught for more than 20 years.[3]