hail2skins Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Just wanted to give an early heads up that one of the great Redskins TEs will be featured on the NFLN next Tuesday night at 9 pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I really want to see this. Probably my first Redskins autograph as a kid. Remember it fondly, still displayed in my man cave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repo_4 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 There is "A Football Life: Backstory" on Jerry Smith following this, at 10:00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doncherry Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I think that this will be an extremely interesting episode. I was too young to have seen him play but I have seen highlights and read about him. I know he was an excellent TE. Living a secret life and accomplishing what he did under what must have been an intense fear of persecution is really a testament to his strength. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I'll look forward to seeing this. Jerry Smith is one of the best pass catching tight ends ever to play the game. Glue hands. He made diving catches look routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrypticVillain Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I knew there had to be a reason that Jerry Smith was getting a football life. Did not know he died of aids... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I knew there had to be a reason that Jerry Smith was getting a football life. Did not know he died of aids... It should be an interesting episode. He never admitted his homosexuality - imagine doing so in the era in which he played. But it was revealed by another Redskin named Dave Kopay years later. Kopay was one of the first pro athletes to come out as gay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hangman- C_Hanburger Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Watched him play...best red zone TE...he just killed people inside the 20...It came as a big suprise that he was gay. NEVER saw anything but respect from his team mates... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I knew there had to be a reason that Jerry Smith was getting a football life. Did not know he died of aids...Oh gosh yeah. It wasn't long after Rock Hudson and he was the first pro athlete to die of the disease. Quite the media deal back in the early-mid '80's. His homosexuality came out as a result of his death. How he kept that quite in the macho World of pro-bowl and still kept his focus to be the greatest Redskin TE of all time and one of the greatest league wide is testimony to Jerry's character. The fact he had to keep his sexuality hidden, as gay players of today still feel forced to do 9 times out if 10 is to the detriment of the NFL and society as a whole. I sadly won't get to see this but it should be a great watch on an all time great Redskin. Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss_Hogg Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I remember seeing Jerry Smith's jersey number on the AIDS quilt in 1996. Looking forward to this episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB452 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I read this book that Brig Owens wrote following the 1972 Season. http://www.amazon.com/Over-hill-Super-Bowl-Owens/dp/0883310619/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid= He roomed with Jerry Smith. Apparently, they were also both in the National Guard together and had been called up during the riots in DC. Taylor, Mitchell, and Smith were all in the top 4 in the NFL in receiving in 1967. Career Stats: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitJe01.htm Like Chipwich, I got my first Redskins autograph from him as well. He made an appearance in 1971(?) at the grand opening of the New Toys-R-Us in Richmond VA across the street from Regency Mall. When we got there, he had run out of photos and was signing the slips they used at Toys-R-Us when you buy something that you have to go to the back of the store to pick up. No idea what happened to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I never saw him play in his prime, but I think he was my Mom's favorite player back then. She raves about how good of a TE he was. And she said that alot of fans and media suspected he was gay, but he was so good of a TE that no one wanted to even bring it up. He had some of the best hands. Could catch anything and a great route runner from what I see in all the highlight films. Someone else mentioned him being a great redzone target too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Taylor, Mitchell, and Smith were all in the top 4 in the NFL in receiving in 1967. Career Stats: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitJe01.htm They finished 1, 2, and 4 . 1.Charley Taylor 72 2. Jerry Smith 67 3. Willie Richardson (Colts) 63 4. Bobby Mitchell 60 Here's a good clip of them, from NFL Network's Top Ten All-Time Receiving Corps: Another interesting note about that trio... both Charley Taylor and Bobby Mitchell were running backs who converted to wide receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98ORAKPO98 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Oh gosh yeah. It wasn't long after Rock Hudson and he was the first pro athlete to die of the disease. Quite the media deal back in the early-mid '80's. His homosexuality came out as a result of his death. How he kept that quite in the macho World of pro-bowl and still kept his focus to be the greatest Redskin TE of all time and one of the greatest league wide is testimony to Jerry's character. The fact he had to keep his sexuality hidden, as gay players of today still feel forced to do 9 times out if 10 is to the detriment of the NFL and society as a whole. I sadly won't get to see this but it should be a great watch on an all time great Redskin. Hail. You can watch it if you want, click the below link and enjoy NFL network my friend. There are a lot of popups you have to close out of, and some of the x's to close out of the pop ups are well hidden, but once you close the pop ups and you can make the screen big to fill your computer screen. http://firstrowus1.eu/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 You can watch it if you want, click the below link and enjoy NFL network my friend. There are a lot of popups you have to close out of, and some of the x's to close out of the pop ups are well hidden, but once you close the pop ups and you can make the screen big to fill your computer screen. http://firstrowus1.eu/ You know I've never thought of that. And I watch full games on there regularly. Thanks man. Don't know what I was thinking. Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98ORAKPO98 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 You know I've never thought of that. And I watch full games on there regularly. Thanks man. Don't know what I was thinking. Hail. You weren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Another interesting note about that trio... both Charley Taylor and Bobby Mitchell were running backs who converted to wide receiver. So was Art Monk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 So was Art Monk. When was Art Monk a running back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Tater Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 When was Art Monk a running back? He was recruited as a RB but switched to WR sometime in college. As Bobby Mitchell indicates, only a handful have ever successfully made the switch at the NFL level (unless you go back to about 1948). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 He was recruited as a RB but switched to WR sometime in college. As Bobby Mitchell indicates, only a handful have ever successfully made the switch at the NFL level (unless you go back to about 1948). Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebluefood Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Still can't believe he's not in the HoF. I'll have to DVR this episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 When was Art Monk a running back? In college at Syracuse. There was a tradition that the #1 RB for the Orange got Jim Brown's 44. He was recruited as a RB but switched to WR sometime in college. As Bobby Mitchell indicates, only a handful have ever successfully made the switch at the NFL level (unless you go back to about 1948). Yes, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJValleySkinz Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Watched him play...best red zone TE...he just killed people inside the 20...It came as a big suprise that he was gay. NEVER saw anything but respect from his team mates... What does this mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarpon75 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 What does this mean? It means his team mates respected him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJValleySkinz Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 It means his team mates respected him. I know how to read. I was trying to find out what he was implying by saying he's surprised Smith was gay because his team mates respected him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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