BUBBA SMITH (1945-2011)
Died August 3, 2011. 6-foot-7, 280 pound defensive end who played at Michigan State, and started his pro career in 1967 with the Baltimore Colts and later Raiders and Oilers.
I have to admit that I didn't follow him in football, but he became a favorite afterward in his acting career with the Miller Lite Beer commercials and as Officer Moses Hightower on the six "Police Academy" movies.
Those former athletes in the Lite commercials were hilarious and there was that one commercial where Smith beamed, "I also love the easy-opening cans," while ripping off the top of a can.
I like the story of why he walked away from the popular and lucrative Miller Lite commercials. In 1986, he told a reporter: "I went back to Michigan State for the homecoming parade last year. I was grand marshall and I was riding in the back seat of this car. The people were yelling, but they weren't saying, 'Go State, go!' One side of the street was yelling, 'Tastes great!' and the other side was yelling 'Less filling!'
Then we go to the stadium. The older folks are yelling, 'Kill, Bubba, kill!' But the students are yelling 'Tastes great! Less filling!' Everyone in the stands is drunk. It was like I was contributing to alcohol, and I don't drink. It made me realize I was doing something I didn't want to do."
I Have To Admit That I Would Have Been Yelling "Tastes Great, Less Filling." --Cooter
From the August 5, 2011 Chicago Tribune.
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