Jackie Smith

Jackie Larue Smith, born February 23, 1940, in Columbia, Mississippi, is an American former professional football player who played tight end in the National Football League for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Northwestern State Demons.

Smith attended Kentwood High School in Kentwood, Louisiana, where he initially played the clarinet in the school band before trying out for the football team as a sophomore. A torn Achilles tendon forced him to sit out that season. As a junior, osteomyelitis in his ankle limited him to the second half of the final game of the year. As a senior, he was named the starting tailback in the team's single-wing formation but suffered a serious hip injury in the fourth game and did not play the remainder of the season, finishing his high school career having appeared in only five games. He also lettered in track and field, competing in the mile relay, the quarter-mile, and the low and high hurdles, and won a state championship in the hurdles as a senior.

Smith was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.