Bubba Smith Items Being Sold

November 4, 2011 By Editor

Three months after his death a collection of items belonging to former college and NFL great Bubba Smith is up for auction.

Awards, a signed photo of Smith with former president Ronald Reagan, signed passports and several lots of signed personal checks are among the items up for bid through Nate D. Sanders. The auction closes Tuesday night.

Smith helped Michigan State to back-to-back mythical NCAA championships in 1965 and ’66. He was an All-America defensive lineman and the first overall pick by the Baltimore Colts in the 1967 NFL draft. After retiring, he became an actor and also appeared in a variety of commercials.

Smith was found dead at his home in Los Angeles back in early August. On Wednesday, the coroner in L.A. County ruled his death was from acute drug intoxication and other conditions. Phentermine, a weight-loss drug, was found in his system.

Sanders had met with Smith twice before his death while the former Baltimore Colt and Oakland Raider decided whether to auction his memorabilia. He earned a Super Bowl ring when the Colts defeated the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, but Smith told auction officials it had been buried with his father.