Wilfrid Russell Smith (April 7, 1899 – August 3, 1976) was an American

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 and sports journalist. He played professionally for six seasons 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) with the

Muncie Flyers The Muncie Flyers, known as the Congerville Flyers for most of their existence, were a professional American football team from Muncie, Indiana, that played from 1905 to 1926. The Flyers were an independent squad for most of their existence, b ...

, Louisville Brecks,

Hammond Pros The Hammond Pros were an American football team from Hammond, Indiana that played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1926 as a traveling team. History The Pros were established by local businessman Paul Parduhn and Dr. Alva Young. ...

and

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

. 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 ...

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

. He was a member of the Cardinals team that were NFL champions in

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

Early life and college

Wilfrid Russell Smith was born on April 7, 1899, in Milroy, Indiana. He attended Huntington High School in

Huntington, Indiana Huntington, known as the "Lime City", is the largest city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington Township, Huntington County, Indiana, Huntington and Union Township, H ...

. Smith was a two-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the DePauw Tigers from 1917 to 1918.

Professional career

Smith played in two games, both starts, for Pine Village A.C. in 1919. He was also a member of the Hammond All-Stars during the 1919 season. Smith appeared in one game for the

of the

American Professional Football Association The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

(APFA) during the league's inaugural season in 1920. He started two games for Muncie in 1921. He started one game for the Louisville Brecks of the newly renamed National Football League (NFL) during the 1922 season. Smith played in five games, starting four, for the

of the NFL in 1923. He appeared in three games, starting one, for the NFL's

in 1923. He played in six games, starting three, for the Cardinals in 1924. Smith played in all 13 games, starting five, for Chicago during the 1925 season as the team finished 11–2–1, good for first place in the NFL.

Personal life

Smith joined the staff of ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' in 1925. From 1926 to 1929, he compiled

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

teams for the newspaper. Smith served as sports editor for the ''Chicago Tribune'' from 1955 until 1966. He died following a long illness, on August 3, 1976, at Resurrection Hospital in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Smith served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Wilfrid 1899 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American newspaper editors American football centers American football ends American football guards American football tackles Chicago Cardinals players Chicago Tribune people DePauw Tigers football players Hammond Pros players Louisville Brecks players Muncie Flyers players People from Rush County, Indiana People from Huntington, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Sportswriters from Indiana United States Navy personnel