Robert Smith       

HIGH SCHOOL: Robert Smith attended Spruce High School and lived in or near Dallas, Texas. He was named All-state and all-conference and all-city on both offense and defense. He played football for three years and was in track for four years. He was an All-America pick in track for the 100 and 200 meters. He gained 243 yards on 14 carries in one game, which set a Dallas high school record. As a junior, he ran for 890 yards (9.1 average), and gained 650 yards (11.2 average) in a senior year that was hampered by injuries. He finished 2nd in the Texas Relays in the 100 meters. His best career time in the 100 meters was 10.16 seconds. He chose Iowa over Texas and Oklahoma, and was Hayden Fry's first recruit from the state of Texas.

COLLEGE: An electrifying wide receiver, he made an immediate impact for the Hawks with his big plays. He caught an 86-yard TD pass from Tom Grogan in 1983 against Northwestern to break the Kinnick Stadium record for longest TD pass. He later connected with Chuck Long in 1985 for an 89-yard TD pass at Northwestern, which broke the school record. He returned a punt 55 yards for a TD in a 31-14 victory over Purdue in 1983.

He had a team-best 115 receiving yards, including a 49-yard touchdown reception from QB Chuck Long in Iowa’s 55-17 win over Texas in the Freedom Bowl and 44 receiving yards against UCLA in the Rose Bowl. In 1986, he caught a crucial two-point conversion in the Holiday Bowl shootout with San Diego State. He broke the school record for career punt returns with 76, surpassing Nile Kinnick's record of 66.

He ended with career receiving of 1,438 yards, and averaged 20.8 yards per catch (69 receptions). He scored 102 points on 17 touchdowns.

He also excelled on the track team. He qualified for the NCAA indoor track championships (in the 60) and ran on Iowa’s Big Ten champion 4x100 meter relay team as a freshman. He would later focus more on football during his later years.

OTHER: He has been an NCAA Big Ten football official since 2003. He has officiated 12 NCAA bowl games, including the 2011 and 2014 BCS National Championship games. He is also Chair of the National Association of Sports Officials Board of Directors, and he has a total of 30 years as an official for college football and high school girls and boys basketball. He was part of the first all-African American football officiating crew in the history of the Big Ten and any Autonomy Five conference on Oct. 24, 2020 (Michigan at Minnesota).

He received the NFHS Officials Association Official of the Year for boys and girls basketball. He was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Officials Hall of Fame in 2014, and the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Basketball Officials Hall of Fame in 2018.

Born 10/18/1964 and is 60 years old.