Ralph Allon "Catfish" Smith Sr. (December 1, 1938 – August 23, 2023) was an American 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 an

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

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 eight seasons, for 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 ...

(1962–1964),

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

(1965–1968), and the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

(1969). He was drafted out of

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

by the Eagles in 1962 and also had a stint with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Early life

Smith was born on December 1, 1938, in

Brookhaven, Mississippi Brookhaven is a city in Lincoln County, Mississippi, United States, south of the state capital of Jackson. The population was 11,674 people at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County. It was named after the town of Brook ...

, and grew up there. He first attended the University Military School in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, in 1954, before transferring to Brookhaven High School in his hometown, where he would attend from 1955 to 1957. A teammate of

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed "Bambi", is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL), and the Dal ...

on the football team, he earned 15

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

across four sports (football, basketball, track, baseball). Smith had many accomplishments at Brookhaven. In football, he helped them win the conference championship in 1955 and 1957, earning all-conference, All-Southern and

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in all three seasons while being invited to several all-star games as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

. He also was three times named all-conference in basketball, helped them win the conference basketball championship in 1955, and helped the track team win the state championship in 1957.

College career

Smith began attending the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

(Ole Miss) in 1958 and played on the freshman football team that year. He made the varsity team in 1959 and went on to play through 1961 as a

two-way Two-way or Two Way may refer to: Music * " 2-Way", a 2002 song by Lil' Romeo * "Two Way" (song), by KT Tunstall and James Bay, 2016 Other uses * Two-way, Cincinnati chili Cincinnati chili (or Cincinnati-style chili) is a Mediterranean-spic ...

. He contributed to their back-to-back national championships in 1959 and 1960 and overall the team went with him on the roster. Ole Miss made a bowl game every year Smith was on the roster and he earned

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

honors in his final two years, being a third-team selection in 1960 and a second-team choice in 1961. As a senior in 1961, he led the team in both receiving and tackles for loss while being named second-team All-American. Smith received the nickname "Catfish" at Ole Miss, being likened to Vernon "Catfish" Smith who played at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Professional career

Smith was selected in both the 1962 AFL Draft by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

(12th round, 93rd overall) and the

1962 NFL draft The 1962 NFL draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him to the Cleveland Bro ...

by the

(8th round, 111th overall), ultimately choosing to play for the Eagles. He appeared in 13 games, none as a starter, in his rookie season, recording one reception for 29 yards along with one rush for 13 yards. He played all 14 games, four as a starter, in 1963 before playing 11 games, two as a starter, for the team in 1964. He caught five passes for 63 yards and a

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 ...

in 1963 and then had four for 35 yards the following season. He was released by the team as part of roster cuts in 1965. Smith joined the

after being released by Philadelphia. He went on to play four years for the Browns, appearing in every game during that span while starting 29 of his 56 appearances. He caught 13 passes for 183 yards with three touchdowns in 1966 and had a career-best 14 catches for 211 yards the following year, scoring two touchdowns in that season (one receiving, one on a

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

return). He was released following the 1968 season. After leaving the Browns, Smith signed with the

. He did not make the final roster. He was signed off waivers by the

after failing to make the Saints. Smith played in all 14 games as a backup for Atlanta before retiring after the season. He finished his NFL career having played 108 games, 25 of which he started, and recorded six touchdowns (five receiving, one fumble return) with 41 receptions for 549 yards.

Later life and death

Smith started and operated a

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

restaurant called "Skinny's" after his football career. He was inducted into the

Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Jackson, Mississippi. The hall of fame was established in 1961 and is currently located in a museum that displays the achievements of Mississippi athletes. The museum opened on July 4, ...

in 2002. He died on August 23, 2023, in

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statis ...

, at age 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ralph 1938 births 2023 deaths People from Brookhaven, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football ends Ole Miss Rebels football players Philadelphia Eagles players Cleveland Browns players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Saints players