Paul Smith (born July 2, 1984) is an American former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. 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 ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

Early life

Smith attended Deer Creek High School in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. Its population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States census, a 16% increase from 2010. maki ...

for two years, then finished high school at

Owasso High School Owasso High School is a high school located within Tulsa County in Owasso, Oklahoma, United States. It is among the largest high schools in Oklahoma by enrollment with nearly 3,000 students. In 2024, the school received international attention f ...

Owasso, Oklahoma Owasso () is a city in Rogers and Tulsa Counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the largest northern suburb of Tulsa. The population was 39,328 persons as of the 2022 census estimate, compared to 28,915 at the 2010 census, a gain of 36 per ...

. He set a state high school passing record with 9,574 yards in 4 seasons.Mike Brown
"Ex-TU quarterback Paul Smith signs Canadian contract"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'', February 1, 2011.

College career

Arriving at Tulsa in 2003, Smith played in eight games as a true freshman. He sat out the 2004 season as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

, then became the Golden Hurricane's starting quarterback in 2005. He led Tulsa to a 9–4 record and the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

title. He capped off the 2005 season with a 31–24 win over

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

in the 2005 Liberty Bowl (Tulsa's first bowl win since 1991); Smith passed for 234 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for the winning touchdown. Smith was named the game's most valuable player. In 2006, Smith was tagged as one of

's top quarterbacks in preseason, along with such players as future

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 ...

quarterback

Kevin Kolb Kevin Benjamin Kolb ( ; born August 24, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Houston Cougars and was selected by the Philadelphia ...

, and was widely recognized as the leader and face of the Tulsa football program. In Tulsa's scheme, Smith threw many

screen pass A screen pass is a play in gridiron football consisting of a short pass to a receiver who is protected by a screen of blockers. During a screen pass, a number of things happen concurrently in order to fool the defense into thinking a long pass is ...

es to

running backs A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. There a ...

Tarrion Adams, Courtney Tennial, and

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 ...

Idris Moss. The Golden Hurricane jumped out to a stellar 7–1 start with the inside track on a second straight West Division championship, but the team experienced a breakdown amid turmoil resulting from rumors of teams trying to woo away

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Steve Kragthorpe Steven Jon Kragthorpe (April 28, 1965 – August 4, 2024) was an American college football head coach. He served as the head coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane from 2003 through 2006 and the Louisville Cardinals from 2007 to 2009. After his hea ...

. Tulsa lost its contest against

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

in the

Armed Forces Bowl The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly the Fort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseason college football bowl game. First played in 2003, the game is normally held at the 45,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian ...

25–13, making their season record stand at 8–5. In 2007, Smith led the Golden Hurricane to a 10–4 record and a win in the

2008 GMAC Bowl The 2008 GMAC Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the ninth annual playing of the game. It was played on January 6, 2008, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama ...

while also winning the 2007 Conference USA player of the year award In 2007, Smith won the

Wuerffel Trophy The Wuerffel Trophy is an award given annually to the college football player "who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement." The trophy, designed by W. Stanley Proctor and named in honor of former Univers ...

which goes to the top humanitarian in

and was a finalist for the

Draddy Trophy The William V. Campbell Trophy, formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, is awarded by the National Football Foundation to the top college football player with the best combination of academics, leadership, and on-field performance. It is ofte ...

. He was also selected to play in the 2008 Cornerstone

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first s ...

, where he passed for 47 yards and ran for the game's first two touchdowns for the winning Aina (East) team. A three-year starter with the Golden Hurricane, Smith threw a combined 83

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

passes while taking his team to 3 straight

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...

appearances. Smith holds the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record with 14 consecutive games passing for more than 300 yards.Bailey, Eric. "." ''

'', January 7, 2008
Tulsa wins No. 10
Accessed January 7, 2008. Smith also shares in an

record as the only team to have a 5,000 yard passer, three 1,000 yard receivers, and a 1,000 rusher in the same season.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Smith was not selected in the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

and was 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 ...

by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

on April 28. Jacksonville immediately waived their third-team quarterback, allowing Smith to take his spot on the roster. On July 31, 2008, Smith was waived by the Jaguars. On August 31, Smith was re-signed to the Jaguars'

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He was waived on August 30, 2009, to make room on the roster for

Todd Boeckman Todd Boeckman (born June 8, 1984) is an American former quarterback. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. College career Boeckman was recruited in 2002, but redshirted and grayshirted, extending his stay with Ohio State for ...

Montreal Alouettes

In October 2009, Smith took a position as assistant chaplain at the University of Tulsa, apparently ending his playing career.Eric Bailey
"Where his heart is: After 18 months in the NFL, former TU quarterback Paul Smith follows his calling back to Tulsa as its assistant chaplain"
''

'', December 25, 2009. After spending the next year out of football and briefly taking a position as a financial consultant, Smith signed a two-year contract with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

of the CFL on February 2, 2011. He was released during training camp by the Alouettes.

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Paul 1984 births Living people People from Owasso, Oklahoma Players of American football from Edmond, Oklahoma American football quarterbacks Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Montreal Alouettes players Players of Canadian football from Oklahoma