The starting left guard for both of Archie Griffin’s Heisman-winning seasons died over the weekend.
Ted Smith, who manned the left guard position for the Buckeyes in both 1974 and 1975 as Griffin won the Heisman Trophy in both seasons, died Saturday at 71 years old.
Smith earned consensus All-American honors in his final season as a Buckeye.
A native of Gibsonburg, Ohio, Smith started his Ohio State career in 1972 as a linebacker, but moved to guard at the beginning of his junior year. He told the Toledo Blade in 2009 that he wasn’t keen on the idea of moving to the offensive line at first, but ultimately realized Woody Hayes made the right decision by asking him to change positions.
“They played me at linebacker my first two years at Ohio State, and then the coaches told me they wanted me to switch over and play on the offensive line. I didn't like the idea at all, at first. I liked defense and hitting people. But coach Hayes told me he thought I could play on the offensive line and that's where I would help the team the most. The first couple of days of practice were pretty miserable. Woody was on my butt pretty bad because I didn't really have much of an idea what I was doing over there. But it slowly got better, and I learned the position. Woody knew what he was doing.”
Smith said he was grateful to have had the opportunity to block for Griffin.
“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. 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.
“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. Of course there was Archie; and Tim Fox, a safety; and our punter Tom Skladany, and myself. 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."
According to his obituary, Smith “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.”
Smith worked in construction following his career at Ohio State, retiring in 2007 as the paving superintendent for Shelby County near the Ohio-Indiana border.
