BRANSON MO NEWS:
Tribune staff report
As unassuming and quiet as Brad Smith was off the field, he was one of the most dynamic on the field.A quiet quarterback from Youngstown, Ohio, who took a chance on a program he knew little about became the first big star of the Gary Pinkel era and the face of a Missouri football program that was in need of a jolt.He became larger than life.Smith on Wednesday was picked to be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield. The induction ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 16.“They really don’t have to remember me,” Smith told the Tribune before his induction into the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011. “Honestly, they really don’t. I was just a guy who gave everything he had on the football field. And that’s all that really matters.”Smith led the Tigers to a modest 25-23 record from 2002-05, but his tenure included two victories in the Independence Bowls (2003, ’05) and two wins over Nebraska, a team the Tigers hadn’t defeated since 1978.The 2003 team had eight wins, which tied for the most at MU since 1969 and helped pave the way for the Tigers’ return to national prominence.Along the way, Smith rewrote the Missouri and NCAA record books. He was the first NCAA Division I player to throw for 8,000 yard and rush for 4,000 in a career. At the time his career ended, Smith held 69 Missouri, Big 12 and NCAA records that spanned game, season and career categories, including the most career rushing yards for a quarterback. He remains No. 1 in career rushing yards and No. 2 in career passing yards at Missouri.Smith, who received votes for the Heisman Trophy in 2003 and 2005, was also an outstanding student. He was a finalist for the Draddy Award ( …
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