Steve Smith (running back)

Steven Anthony Smith (born August 30, 1964) is a former professional American football running back, playing 9 seasons in the National Football League with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. He was a team captain on Penn State's 1986 National Championship team.

Smith was a third-round draft choice of the Raiders in the 1987 NFL Draft. Converted to fullback, Smith blocked for Raiders star running backs Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen. He then spent 2 seasons with Seattle until a back injury ended his career. Although primarily a blocker, he finished his career with 1627 rushing yards and 13 receiving touchdowns.

In 1995, Smith won the inaugural Madden Bowl, a tournament during Super Bowl weekend in which current and former NFL players compete at the Madden NFL video game.

After football
Smith married former Raiderette, Chie Aguilar-Hiroto from Cypress, CA in December 1989. The couple have two children, Dante (July 1990) and Jazmin (Sept 1991) and live in Richardson, Texas. Smith has been afflicted with Lou Gehrig's disease since July 2002. He cannot speak because of a ventilator and receives his food through a feeding tube. He communicates via a state of the art computer system donated by MDS, reported his wife. Former teammates, including former Nittany Lions D. J. Dozier and Shane Conlan, have rallied to raise money for Smith's medical bills.

Smith was the focus of an August 17, 2010, episode of HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel exploring how toxic proteins that form after brain trauma may cause Lou Gehrig's disease.