Jackie Larue Smith (born February 23, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Northwestern Louisiana State College (now Northwestern State University). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994. Early years Smith attended Kentwood High School, where he started out playing the clarinet for the school's band. He decided to try out for the football team as a sophomore, but suffered a torn Achilles tendon that forced him to sit out the season. As a junior, he had osteomyelitis in his ankle, so he could only play in the second half of the last game of the season. 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 could not play the rest of the way, finishing his high school career after appearing in only 5 games. He also lettered in track and field, competing in the mile relay, the quarter-mile, the low and high hurdles. He won a state championship in the hurdles. College career Northwestern Louisiana State College could only offer him half a scholarship for track, unless he would also agree to play football, so he could qualify for a full scholarship. "They told me, 'If you go out for the football team and don’t quit, we can give you a full scholarship,' " Smith said. "I didn't even have to play—just don't quit." Smith initially joined the football team to fulfill this provision, but he was good enough to become a starter. During his college career, he had few opportunities to prove his true worth in the Demons' run-oriented offense, leading the team in receiving in his last two years, but recording modest stats. In track, he competed in the hurdles. In 1980, he was inducted into the Northwestern State Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1983, he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Professional career St. Louis Cardinals Smith was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the tenth round (129th overall) of the 1963 NFL Draft, based on the recommendation of Jack Rockwell, then a Cardinals trainer and a part-time scout, who saw him in a spring game during his senior season, where he showed enough speed to