Rhodes Athletic Hall of Fame
“In the late thirties, Gaylon Smith from Beebe, Arkansas was Southwestern’s star running back – a 210 pound projectile regarded by thoughtful judges as one of the times’ most magnificent.”
Walter Stewart, sports editor of the Commercial Appeal, wrote these lines at the time of Smith’s untimely death in 1958. And he added, “the legend of Gaylon Smith lives on.”
And what a legend! The “Beebe Bullet,” also known as “Southwestern’s gift to Southern football,” spearheaded the 1938 Lynx to their most successful season since 1896, a record that stood for more than thirty years. With “speed and ‘bulling’ tactics” he led the entire nation in scoring for two weeks, finally coming in third in the country with 97 points for the season.
In his career as a Lynx starter, he was named Little All-American (1938), Second Team All-Southern (1938), All Dixie (1937, 1938), and Most Valuable Player on the 1937 Lynx football team.
Off the field and onto the court, he played forward for the Lynx basketball team and was the leading scorer for three consecutive years. Repeatedly described as the “outstanding man on the floor, “he was named Most Valuable Player (1937-38), and All Dixie for two years running.
A four-year letterman in track, Smith set both pole vault and 100-yard dash records that were to stand for many years. He was also a standout in the discus and shotput events.
Gaylon Smith’s athletic prowess was matched by his strength of leadership. He was elected team captain and co-captain in all the sports he played, was President of the “S” Club, a member of Omicron Delta Kappa honorary society and of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and served on the Honor Council.
In recognition of an outstanding athlete and star of a chapter in our football history that is unequaled, I am honored to induct GAYLON WESLEY SMITH into the Rhodes Athletic Hall of Fame, inaugurated this 25th day of October, 1996.
