Former Cowboys defensive lineman Don Smerek is dead at 66 after cancer battle. ‘A great teammate’

Following a battle with cancer, former Dallas Cowboys defensive great Don Smerek passed away last week. He was sixty-six.

Smerek attended Nevada to play collegiate football. Smerek eventually signed with the Cowboys in 1981 after going undrafted. After that, the defensive lineman played in 69 games over the course of seven seasons with the team.

At the end of his career, he had 14.5 sacks in Dallas.

Randy White, a former Cowboys star and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said of the man, “He was a tremendous teammate, a fantastic person.” “As a football player, he was just reliable and always there for me. The thing about Don as a football player was that he was 100%. He would rush the passer on third downs.

White also remembered going fishing with Smerek on a regular basis.
“I was a fantastic football teammate, and we grew close friends off the field. He used to be my fishing buddy, and we would go fishing and do all the other activities together.