Ex-Chargers LB Smith dies as family cites CTE
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Billy Ray Smith Jr. died at 64 after a long journey with dementia caused by CTE, according to a Wednesday family statement that praised his bravery and dignity in facing the disease.
- Smith played 10 seasons with the San Diego Chargers after being drafted fifth overall in the 1983 NFL Draft out of Arkansas, racking up 15 career interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries and 13 forced fumbles and earning a spot on the franchise's 50th anniversary team.
- Smith was a two-time All-American at Arkansas and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000, having starred at Plano Senior High School in Texas before college.
- Chargers owner Dean Spanos said Smith "wasn't merely a great football player. He was, truly, larger than life," in a tribute posted alongside the team's social media remembrance.
- Smith transitioned to broadcasting after his playing career, becoming sports director at the ABC affiliate in San Diego, co-hosting a long-running radio show and covering college and pro football for national TV broadcasts.
- Billy Ray Smith Sr., the player's father, also played at Arkansas and spent 13 NFL seasons (1957–1970) with the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts.
Why it matters: Smith's death adds another high-profile name to the roster of former NFL players whose families have publicly linked post-career cognitive decline to CTE, a degenerative brain disease diagnosable only after death. With 10 NFL seasons and a Hall of Fame college career behind him, Smith represents a long-tenured pro whose case underscores how repetitive head trauma can exact a toll decades after retirement.
