vSMITH continued from page 7 Smith said the school also found itself well behind other schools in the league. “Southern Cal, UCLA and Washington were the dominant teams by resources — people, money, facilities and so forth — and Oregon lagged way behind in those days,” he said. “We played at Hayward Field — the old track stadium — when I got there. We’d get 20-25,000 fans. It wasn’t a big deal.” Changes The mid-60s were a time of change throughout the country. One notable instance occurred in 1965 when the annual Harris Poll saw football overtake baseball as the country’s most popular sport — a spot it has never relinquished since. Smith had the opportunity to be a part of a major change on the University of Oregon campus. “In 1967, they built a new stadium, got some facilities and people started taking notice,” he said. “They started to attend the games and started to fill the stadiums more than in previous years.” The Ducks opened up then- 41,078 seat Autzen Stadium by hosting No. 9 Colorado. The Ducks lost the game 17-13. Smith returned to Oregon this month, along with other former players, to help commemorate Autzen Stadium’s 50th birthday. In the ensuing years, Smith says he’s noticed a lot of other changes to the game. “The biggest guy I ever played against in college was Ed White from California,” he said. “He played with the Vikings for a long time. Ed White was like 250 (lbs.). That’s about as big of a guy that played. Now, 250 is a small player. Then the speed is incredible — the speed of plays, the speed of running, the speed of throwing and catching. The game has changed drastically.” Rivalries Like other college teams, there were games that the teams that — no matter what — the Ducks wanted to win. “The big rivalries that we wanted to win worse than other games were Stanford,” Smith said. “Washington was a rivalry. Oregon State, of course, was a big rivalry. Oregon State, back then, was tremendous. They were a power in the country.” In addition to their rivalry games, Smith had opportunities to play against some of the biggest teams of the era including Oklahoma, USC and Ohio State. “It was a great thrill,” he said. “Those were teams, growing up, I had followed. When I went to play at Oklahoma and went to play at Ohio State, those were big deals for me. I don’t think they were big deals for anyone else on the team. Those are big stadiums, big teams, big games, national powers for years. We played in front of 80,000 people at Ohio State, probably 70,000 at Oklahoma. Those were big games, compared to 25,000 in Eugene.” Meeting The Assassin While Smith never had an opportunity to meet them in person, Smith had the opportunity to play against two of the biggest college football players of the time — Jack “The Assassin” Tatum of Ohio State and O.J. Simpson of USC. Though not properly introduced, Smith recalled a uniquely personal meeting with Tatum while playing against Ohio State. “The first half of the game, I caught a little pass and thought, ‘I’m going to score.’” He said. “All of a sudden, Tatum hit me and I thought he killed me. It was the hardest hit I ever had playing football. It was just like a hammer.” Tatum would go on to win a Super Bowl with the Oakland Raiders where he built a reputation for hitting hard. Smith said Oregon also managed a minor victory against running back O.J. Simpson no other program was able to do at the time. “There’s two games in his career … that he didn’t get 100 yards — one was in ’67 at Eugene and the other was in ’68 at Southern Cal,” he said. “They just ganged up on him. Our defense was very good and held him, but we couldn’t score enough to beat them. Simpson would go on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Buffalo Bills, long before the double-homicide trial that would make his name infamous. Going Pro The 1960s saw an explosion of options for college players interested in going pro. The American Football League had given more players more opportunities while the National Football League expanded to help contain the rival league that they would eventually merge with. Smith said he even contemplated getting into professional football. “I was going to try out in Canada,” he said. “Some of my teammates had played in Canada and were already up there, and a couple were going and I was going to go with them. … I had no inclination that I was going to play in the NFL, but I thought maybe I could play in Canada.” However, Smith wouldn’t get the chance. “I was working out in Eugene and snapped my Achilles tendon,” he said. “That was the end of my playing.” Being A Fan As with all former players, Smith found himself eventually transitioning into being a fan. It was kind of a difficult transition at first. “I’m not a very good fan,” he said. “When I was young, I was noisy — loud probably — but now I’m a little more quiet, but I enjoy the game. Players see it from a different angle than a non-player fan. You’re interested in what they’re doing, what they’re trying to do, if it works or not, if they’re going to change things or not, good coaching, bad coaching and all of those kinds of things.” He added that the proceeding Oregon teams didn’t always make it easy on him. “After I left, we weren’t very good for a long time,” he said. “Twenty years, they didn’t have much success.” From 1969-1988, the team only registered five winning seasons and no bowl game appearances. Then, the culture shifted. “Rich Brooks came along and had some success,” he said. “He beat Oregon State every year, so he kept his job and they started getting good.” This culminated in a 1989 Independence Bowl victory over Tulsa University. Since 1989, the Ducks have only failed to make a bowl game five times. “They’re not a Nebraska that’s been doing it since 1960 — they’ve been doing it since 1990,” Smith said. “They’re a Johnny-come-lately as far as having success on the football field. … A lot of my friends have vSMITH continued on page 24 HISVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017v23