Sports obituary: Former West star dies at age 31
Published 10:51 pm Monday, April 17, 2023
- JON C. LAKEY / SALISBURY POST Chris Smith, Cleveland Browns defensive end and former West Rowan High school Falcon, returned to Salisbury and Rowan County for a $45,000 dollar donation donation to Rowan-Salisbury High School Athletics and Essie Mae Foxx Charter School which is scheduled to open in East Spencer. Thursday, May 24, 2018, in Salisbury, NC
Staff report
Chris Smith, one of the key components of West Rowan’s football dynasty, died at age 31 on Tuesday.
Smith’s death has been confirmed. Not much is known about the circumstances or cause of death.
This is a terrible loss for his family, friends, former teammates and for Rowan County. He is the ultimate giver and a generous donor to local schools and projects. He stays close to his Rowan County roots wherever his football odyssey takes him.
Smith signed a contract in March to play for the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL.
Smith starred as a defensive end for West Rowan head football coach Scott Young during state championship seasons in 2008 and 2009 and was the Shrine Bowl Defensive MVP in 2009.
He attracted several college offers before choosing Arkansas and the opportunity to play against the best in the Southeastern Conference.
He became a starter for the Razorbacks as a sophomore and recorded 18 sacks over his final two seasons of college football.
He was a fifth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014 and played three seasons there.
His best NFL seasons were in 2017 with the Cincinnati Bengals – he had three sacks – and in 2018 with the Cleveland Browns, where he started two games and was a regular contributor.
His 2019 season with Cleveland was marred by the tragic death of his girlfriend.
He played a few games for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. In 2021, he was briefly with the Baltimore Ravens and then played four games for the Houston Texans.
He is out of the NFL in 2022, but has begun a comeback attempt by signing with the XFL Sea Dragons.
More on Smith to come.