Ted Smith, former Ohio State football All-American, dead at 71

Former Ohio State football star Ted Smith died over the weekend at the age of 71.

Smith was an All-American offensive guard for the Buckeyes from 1972-75, when he was a crucial run-blocker for Archie Griffin, the two-time Heisman winner in 1974 and 1975. 

Griffin is the only player in college football history to win two Heisman Trophies — and Smith was a major part of it as the starting left guard in both of the trophy-winning seasons.

He began his career as a linebacker before making the switch to the offensive line.

“I played offensive line at 6-foot-1 and about 257 pounds. That was a decent size back then, but that would be small by today’s standards,” Smith once told the Toledo Blade. “The athletes are so much bigger and faster today. The game has changed a lot, in a lot of ways, but it still comes down to blocking and tackling.

“We used to just line up, knock people down, and then hand the ball to Archie Griffin. I was fortunate to play with an outstanding player like Archie. He is the same now as he was way back then — very humble and very appreciative of the talents he was given. He never thought he was better than anyone else, even with two Heisman Trophies. And he still appreciates his offensive linemen.”

Smith was a part of four successful seasons in Columbus, and his freshman season was the beginning of a 15-year stretch when the Buckeyes never failed to reach a bowl game.

“I felt really honored to be named All-American as a senior. We had four guys from that team that made first team All-American, and that is a lot,” Smith added. “It was a great group of guys. We went to the Rose Bowl all four years I was there at Ohio State. Back then, before all this BCS and the national championship games, going to the Rose Bowl was very, very important. As a Buckeye, you wanted your season to end in Pasadena on January 1st.”

Smith was a Buckeye through and through, as his obituary said that he “was a die-hard Ohio State Buckeyes football fan, cheering passionately on game days and instilling that same love of the game in his family.”