A blazing fast athlete with the strength to match, he starred on the track and football field at Bay City Central before lettering for three seasons with the Northwestern University football team. He ranked among the Big Ten’s top kickoff returners in 1989 with 19 returns for a 19.3 average. A situational running back, he ran for 237 yards and caught eight passes in his Division I career. In 1991, he was named Player of the Game in Northwestern’s 16-13 win over Michigan State. He earned first-team all-Saginaw Valley League honors as a 1989 Central graduate, rushing for 1,409 yards and 10 TDs in two varsity seasons.

Smith was a rare talent on the track, winning the 1989 Class A state championship in the 100-meter dash. He also placed fifth in the state as a junior and led the 400 relay team to fifth as a senior. He set school records in the 400 and 3200 relays and broke the long jump record that was set 31 years earlier by his Hall of Fame father Namon Smith.