Ed Smith

Running back, American football player

1913 – 1998

78

Who was Ed Smith?

Edward "Ed" Smith was an American football running back in the National Football League for the Boston Redskins and Green Bay Packers. He played college football at New York University and was drafted in the third round of the 1936 NFL Draft.

During the 1935 football season, Smith posed for the Heisman Trophy study with the now-iconic straight or "stiff" arm.

Sculptor Frank Eliscu asked Smith, his former high school classmate, to pose for a commissioned work involving a football player. They both attended George Washington High School in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood. Smith did not realize that the sculpture, for which he posed, became the fabled Heisman Trophy until 1982. A documentary filmmaker tracked down Smith through his brother-in-law, Bob Pastor, a former heavyweight boxer who fought Joe Louis twice. The Downtown Athletic Club subsequently presented Smith with a Heisman Trophy of his own in 1985.

Smith was what sportswriters used to refer to as a triple-threat: he ran, passed and often quick-kicked in New York University's single-wing offense during the 1933–1935 seasons. Smith suffered a torn ligament in his left leg and a hemorrhage in his right leg and NYU went 3–4–1 in 1934. The 1935 Thanksgiving game was the last of Smith's collegiate career. The first Heisman Trophy presentation was on December 5, 1935.

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Born
Jun 17, 1913
New York City
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • New York University
Lived in
  • New York City
Died
Jan 29, 1998

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"Ed Smith." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/ed_smith_1913>.

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