Bruce Smith (American football)

NFL player
Name=Bruce Smith


DateOfBirth=February 8, 1920
Birthplace= Faribault, Minnesota
DateOfDeath=death date and age|1967|08|28|1920|02|8
College=Minnesota
Position=Halfback
DraftedYear=1942
DraftedRound=13
DraftedPick=119
Career Highlights=Y
Awards=1941 Heisman Trophy
years=1945-1948
1948
teams=Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams
DatabaseFootball=SMITHBRU01
CollegeHOF=40080

Bruce P. Smith (February 8, 1920 – August 28, 1967), nicknamed "Boo", was an American football player best known for winning the Heisman Trophy in 1941.

Smith was born in Faribault, Minnesota where he excelled in high school football under the legendary football coach Win Brockmeyer, and then he attended the University of Minnesota. He played halfback for the back-to-back national champion Gophers in 1940 and 1941. He received the Heisman two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

During World War II he served as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot. After the war he briefly played in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers (1945–1948) and the Los Angeles Rams (1948). The movie, "Smith of Minnesota", was released in 1942. The premiere occurred in Faribault, Minnesota, to the amazement of the locals due to this novelty. However, laughter was heard in the movie house when certain advanced technologies, for that time (direct-dial phones, streetlights, etc) were seen as part of the scenery - courtesy of being filmed in Hollywood Calif.

He was diagnosed with cancer in the spring of 1967, and he spent the next several months visiting young cancer patients with the Rev. William Cantwell. Smith lost over half his body weight before succumbing to the disease. Cantwell, who was unfamiliar with Smith's sports achievements, nominated Smith for sainthood.

In 1972, Smith was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. His number 54 was the first to be officially retired by the Minnesota Gophers, in 1977.

External links

* Gophersports.com: [http://www.gophersports.com/history/mfball/54BruceSmith.asp Bruce Smith biography]
* College Football Hall of Fame: [http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=40080 Bruce "Boo" Smith biography]
* Heisman.com: [http://www.heisman.com/years/1941.html 1941 Heisman Trophy winner]
* Win Brockmeyer: [http://webpages.charter.net/winbrockmeyer/Bruce%20Smith.htm Brockmeyer's letter to the College Football Hall of Fame about Bruce Smith]