Steve Smith (born December 19, 1962) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 was the starting quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1981 to 1983. He also played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for the

Montreal Concordes 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 ...

in 1984 and the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

in 1985.

Early life

Smith attended Grand Blanc High School in

Grand Blanc, Michigan Grand Blanc is a city in Genesee County, Michigan, Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint, Michigan, Flint. The population was 7,784 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 US Census. It is part of the Flint metrop ...

. He also played high school football for Swartz Creek prior to transferring to Grand Blanc for his senior year, joining his former high school coach.

University of Michigan

Smith 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

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the Univers ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

teams from 1980 to 1983. As a sophomore, Smith started all 12 games for the 1981 Wolverines and led the team to a record of 8–3 in the regular season and a win over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in the 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl. He had his best statistical season in 1981, completing 97 of 210 passes for 1,661 yards and 15 touchdowns while also rushing for 674 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a junior, Smith again started all 12 games at quarterback for the 1982 Wolverines, leading the team to a record of 8–3 in the regular season, and a berth in the

1983 Rose Bowl The 1983 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on January 1, 1983. It was the 69th Rose Bowl Game. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 24–14, in a bowl rematch of a regular season game, also won by UCLA. ...

, where the Wolverines lost to UCLA, 24–14. Receiver Anthony Carter was Smith's main target in 1981 and 1982, earning

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 both years. Smith completed 118 of 227 passes in 1982 for 1,735 yards, though his rushing total dropped to 387 yards on 83 carries. He also threw a career-high 13 interceptions in 1982. He was also selected by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

as the second-team quarterback on its

1982 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1982 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1982 college football season. Michigan receiver Anthony Carter was a first-team pick f ...

. As a senior in 1983, Smith threw four touchdown passes and rushed for a fifth in a 42–10 victory over the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

. He led the 1983 Wolverines to a 9–2 record in the regular season and a berth in the

1984 Sugar Bowl The 1984 Sugar Bowl was the 50th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1983–84 bowl game season, it matched the third-ranked Auburn Tiger ...

, where the Wolverines lost to Auburn, 9–7. Smith completed 106 out of 205 passes for 1,420 yards and rushed for 667 yards on 103 attempts during the 1983 season. Smith was 26–10 as a starter for the Wolverines, completing 324 of 648 passes for 4,860 yards, 42 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. He also rushed 1,736 yards on 329 carries (5.3 yards per carry) and 31 rushing touchdowns.(Smith's statistics can be retrieved by typing "smith" into the space provided for the player's last name.) When he finished his career at Michigan, he was also the team's all-time leading passer, a record that has since been surpassed.

Professional football

In March 1984, Smith signed a contract to play for the

in the

(CFL). During the 1984 CFL season, completing 19 of 45 passes for 263 yards, three touchdowns and seven interceptions. In 1985, Smith was on the roster of the

. Smith signed a contract with 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 ...

, who had drafted him in the second round of the 1984 Supplemental Draft, in April 1986, but did not appear in any regular season games with the club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Steve 1962 births Living people American football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Michigan Canadian football quarterbacks Michigan Wolverines football players Montreal Concordes players Ottawa Rough Riders players Sportspeople from Grand Blanc, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan