[1] Smith played college football at the University of Idaho in Moscow under head coach Leo Calland.

[8][9][10] Smith also played baseball, graduated in 1934 with a degree in education, and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

They met George Halas' undefeated Chicago Bears for a third time that season in the NFL championship game.

[3] He served as a training officer in the U.S. Army in World War II, and coached the football team at Fort Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

[19][20] Smith was blind in one eye;[21] he died at age 86 in Albuquerque, New Mexico,[22] and is buried at the Santa Fe National Cemetery (section 4, site 8B).