Before entering professional football, Smith starred as a halfback at Rhodes College and led the country in scoring in 1938.

He was selected by the Rams in the second round of the following season's NFL draft and played for the Cleveland team until deciding to retire from the sport in 1943.

[1] After taking a job as a personnel director and playing on a regional basketball and baseball teams based in the Cleveland area, Smith joined the U.S. Navy in 1944 during World War II.

Smith was a second-string player with the Browns but substituted for an injured Marion Motley late in the season as the team won the AAFC championship game.

Smith retired after the 1946 season but stayed in Ohio to raise his family and work as a manufacturer's representative.

[3] While Rhodes was a small college, Smith led the country in scoring for two weeks in 1938 and finished the season in third place.

[8][9] Smith retired from football after the 1942 season and took a job as personnel director of Thompson Products, Inc., an aerospace, automotive and financial conglomerate based in Ohio.

"[18] A federal judge eventually ruled in favor of Adams, clearing the way for former Rams players to join the Browns.