Ray Gene Smith | |
Number: | 20 |
Position: | Defensive back |
Birth Date: | 27 November 1928 |
Birth Place: | Anadarko, Oklahoma, U.S. |
Death Place: | Garland, Texas, U.S. |
Height Ft: | 5 |
Height In: | 10 |
Weight Lbs: | 187 |
High School: | Lawton (OK) |
College: | Midwestern State |
Pastteams: |
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Pfr: | S/SmitRa22 |
Ray Gene Smith (November 27, 1928 – August 16, 2005) was an American football defensive back who played four seasons with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He attended Lawton High School in Lawton, Oklahoma.[1] Afterwards, he first enrolled at Cameron State Agricultural College before transferring to Midwestern State University. Later, after graduating from the University of Texas Law School, he became a criminal lawyer.[2]
After graduating from Midwestern State University in 1950,[3] he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1951 to 1954. For three years after leaving the Marines, he played for the Chicago Bears where in 1956, he was named a second-team All-NFL performer by the New York Daily News. After 1957, he decided to return to academia at the University of Texas Law School graduating in 1962 with his Juris Doctor. He practiced criminal law in Wichita Falls for 35 years.[4]
In his lifetime, he had a daughter, two grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and two brothers. He died at the age of 76 in Garland, Texas and was buried at Anadarko City Cemetery.