Charles Albert Smith (born July 26, 1950) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for eight seasons (1974–1981) with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Grambling State Tigers The Grambling State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Grambling State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in Division I (I-FCS for College football, football ...

. He also played pro ball in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL).

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Smith signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

following the

1973 NFL draft The 1973 NFL draft was held January 30–31, 1973, at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Houston Oilers selected defensive end John Matuszak. Player selections Round one ...

. At the beginning of the 1973 season, the Rams released Smith, and attempted to re-sign him for the 1974 season. Smith did not re-sign with them, because he knew that all the Rams' receivers would be coming back the following season, and

Lance Rentzel Thomas Lance Rentzel (born October 14, 1943) is an American former professional football player who was a flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Rams. He played college football ...

would be back after being suspended for the season.

Philadelphia Eagles

Smith thought he would have a better chance at making the

' team, and signed with them. Eagles wide receiver

Harold Carmichael Lee Harold Carmichael (born September 22, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles (1971–1983) and one year for th ...

, who attended

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

, was Smith's rival in college due to their teams playing in the same conference. Eagles

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Ricky Harris played with Smith at Grambling State. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, Smith returned four punts for seven yards and did not catch any passes. In 1975, Smith became the Eagles starting wide receiver alongside Carmichael. Smith caught 37 passes for 515 yards and six touchdowns in his first season as a starter. He also rushed for 85 yards on nine carries. In 1976, Smith caught 27 passes for 412 yards and four touchdowns. He had nine carries for 25 yards and one touchdown. In 1977, Smith made 33 receptions for 464 yards and four touchdowns. He also had two carries for 13 yards. In 1978, he caught 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. He made 24 catches for 399 yards and one touchdown in 1979. In 1980, Smith had the best season of his career, hauling in 47 passes for 825 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed five times for 33 yards. In

Super Bowl XV Super Bowl XV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, Smith caught two passes for 59 yards. In his final season in 1981, Smith made 38 receptions for 564 yards and four touchdowns, along with two rushes for five yards. Smith caught 218 passes for 3,349 yards and 24 touchdowns in the eight seasons of his career.

Boston/New Orleans Breakers

Smith played for the Boston/New Orleans Breakers of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

in 1983 and 1984, before retiring.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

From 1985 to 2005, Smith was a

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

head coach in his hometown of

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...

, mostly at

Wossman High School Wossman High School is a senior high school in Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,70 ...

. Since 1988, Smith has been Wossman High School's track coach.

Personal

Smith is married to his wife, Bernice, and has two sons, Charles, Jr. and Eric, and five grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charlie 1950 births Living people American football wide receivers Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers players Grambling State Tigers football players Philadelphia Eagles players High school football coaches in Louisiana Players of American football from Monroe, Louisiana