Former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Don Smerek has died from cancer at age 66, according to several reports.
Smerek, who played for the Nevada Wolf Pack in college before joining the Cowboys in 1981 after going undrafted just a year earlier, died last week.
He spent seven seasons in Dallas, playing a total of 69 games.
‘He was a great teammate, a great person,’ Pro Football Hall of Famer and Cowboys icon Randy White told The Dallas Morning News.
‘He was just solid as a football player and I can always count on him. He would come in on third downs and rush the passer and the thing about Don as a football player, he was 100 percent.’
Former Cowboys DL Don Smerek died at age 66 last week from cancer, according to reports
Smerek and White were also close off the gridiron, as the pair would often go fishing together in the past.
‘A great teammate playing football and we became really great friends off the field. He used to be my fishing partner and we used to go fishing and all the things that go along with that,’ White recalled.
Smerek, who was raised in Henderson, Nevada, continued to live in Texas long after he retired from the NFL.
Smerek spent his entire career (seven NFL seasons ) in Dallas after going undrafted in 1980
Debbie Nye – Smerek’s sister – spoke about her brother’s magnetic personality.
‘His teammates are lifelong friends, even going back to high school, college and NFL,’ Nye said via The Dallas Morning News.
‘There’s still all of those people, were pretty much by his side. He was a larger-than-life individual, a very magnetic personality.’
Smerek’s life will be honored at a private memorial service that is expected to take place later this month in Henderson, Nevada. He is survived by his wife, Tandi, his three brothers, his sister, as well as several nieces and nephews.
