He had not played American football before but was an outstanding all-round sportsman and superb soccer player so he approached the New England Patriots and asked for a trial as a placekicker.
New England saw the left-footed kicker's potential and he was sent to spend his 1973 season in the Atlantic Coast Football League before re-signing with the Patriots in 1974.
On 8 December 1980 the Patriots were playing the Miami Dolphins in a nationally televised Monday Night Football game with a playoff spot on the line.
The game was tied 13-13 in the final seconds of regulation with the camera panned in on Smith when Howard Cosell broke the news to the nation that John Lennon had been murdered.
Convict Mark Henderson, released for a weekend work program, cleared the way with his snowplow for Smith to beat the Miami Dolphins and enter football lore in one of the most memorable games in Patriots history.
In 1982, Smith injured his right knee (on his non-kicking leg) and underwent arthroscopic surgery; he retired after the 1983 season as the second-highest scoring player in Patriots history, behind Gino Cappelletti.