Smith Jr. will be one of six players being inducted into the Hall of Fame in June.<\/p>\n
Former Jackson State and Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith Jr. is set to receive one of the highest honors in Black college football.<\/p>\n
Smith will be inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026, recognizing his standout collegiate career and lasting impact on the game.<\/p>\n
The induction ceremony is scheduled for June 6 in Atlanta, and honorees will also be recognized during halftime of the HBCU Legacy Bowl on Feb. 21 in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
Smith starred at Jackson State University from 1987 to 1991, where he established himself as one of the most dangerous receivers in school history. During his collegiate career, he caught 110 passes for 2,073 yards and 16 touchdowns. He still holds the JSU single-game receiving yards record after torching Delaware State for 239 yards in 1991. His legacy at the program was further cemented when he was named to the Jackson State All-Century Team in 2011.<\/p>\n
Following his success at Jackson State, Smith was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft. He won two Super Bowls with Dallas before joining the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995, where he became the face of the franchise\u2019s offense. Smith played 11 seasons in Jacksonville, retiring after the 2005 season as the Jaguars\u2019 all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. League-wide, he earned five Pro Bowl selections, was named a two-time Second Team All-Pro, and led the NFL in receptions in 1999.<\/p>\n
His post-playing honors continue to grow. Smith was inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars, the team\u2019s ring of honor, in 2016, and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.<\/p>\n
Smith is one of six members in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, joining:<\/p>\n
Eddie Robinson Jr. (Alabama State)Nick Collins (Bethune-Cookman)Tyrone Poole (Fort Valley State)Rudy Hubbard (Florida A&M)Steve Wyche (Howard) <\/p>\n
The honor adds another chapter to a career that began at an HBCU and ended with Smith firmly established as one of the greatest wide receivers of his era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Smith Jr. will be one of six players being inducted into the Hall of Fame in June. Former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-415895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}