JERRY SMITH

FOOTBALL PLAYER

In August 1986, Jerry Smith, a former tight end with the Washington Redskins (1965-1977), became the first professional athlete to reveal publicly that he had AIDS. He told a reporter from the Washington Post, "I want people to know what I've been through with this terrible disease. Maybe it will help people understand, and maybe it will help research. Maybe something positive will come from this."

Born July 19, 1943, in Oakland, California, Jerry Smith studied first at Eastern Arizona Junior College and from 1962 to 1964 attended Arizona State University, where he attracted attention on the football team. In 1969 he joined the Redskins and played with that team for 13 seasons. From 1966 to 1969 he was among the top 10 pass receivers in the National Football League (NFL), and in 1967 he set an NFL record for the most receptions (67) by a tight end in a single season. His total of 421 receptions for 5,496 yards and 60 touchdowns earned him a place in the Redskins Hall of Fame.

After retiring from football in 1977, Smith became involved in several businesses, including running a restaurant in Texas. By the summer of 1985 he had full-blown AIDS. He died October 15, 1986. While Smith was in the hospital, a reporter had asked him how he contracted AIDS, and he answered, "It just happened.' After he died, a former team mate, David Kopay, who had come out publicly as a homosexual, revealed that Smith was also homosexual, that he had been promiscuous, and that he had engaged in risky sexual practices.

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