‘He would come in and light up a room’ | Friends and former coaches remember Plano football legend Billy Ray Smith Jr.

The family of the NFL, college, and Plano athlete says his battle with dementia and death at 64 is related to CTE.

DALLAS — Ron Faurot remembers a phone conversation he had with his friend and former University of Arkansas roommate Billy Ray Smith Jr. about a year and a half ago. They were talking about another college friend who had passed away. But Faurot says Billy Ray couldn’t recall that friend’s death.

“And then 10 seconds later he calls me back, and he said, I really can’t remember. He goes, tell me the story of what happened. And so I had to tell him the story again to put it back in his head.”

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Faurot says that was his first indication that something was wrong with the NFL, college, and Plano football legend.

“It’s a serious problem and it’s affecting a lot of players and it’s scary,” he said of the death this week of Billy Ray Smith Jr. at the age of 64, a death his family blames on dementia linked to CTE – Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the progressive brain disease caused by repeated head impacts, leading to memory loss, mood changes, and behavioral issues.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the loss of our beloved Billy Ray Smith Jr., who passed ‌away peacefully surrounded by family,” a family statement read. “Billy Ray faced his long journey with dementia caused by CTE with unmatched bravery, dignity, and strength. Billy Ray brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the world as a devoted father, husband, son, and loyal friend.”

And the day after his death, that’s who his friends and former coaches in North Texas wanted to talk about, not just the hard-hitting football defensive lineman and linebacker.

“I guess if you had a son, that’s what you’d want him to grow up to be like,” said Randall Chaddick, who coached Billy Ray Smith Jr. at Plano High School in the late 1970’s. “He was friendly to everybody. He always had a smile on his face. He made people around him feel good. He was always laughing.”

“And you know, the unique thing about Billy Ray is he never changed with all the success he had. He stayed the same,” said legendary Plano head football coach Tom Kimbrough. “He kept friends that he played with in high school, and they stayed, you know, together. And he was just a great kid, you know, a lot of fun to coach.  A little mischievous, but in a fun way. And so he was well liked, well liked by his teachers, a hard worker, very key to our success.”

“He was just a very conscientious young man and just a very, very hard worker,” said former Plano coach Robert Woods. “And he tried to please his coaches as the best he could. He did everything you asked him in the way that you ask him to do it, and then he went about it going full speed. That’s what I remember about it more than anything else. And he just had a personality that kids gravitated toward.”

“He was a lot of fun to hang around, and we had some of the best times of my life together,” said Ron Faurot, who started Bronco’s Sports Bar & Grill in Hurst with Billy Ray Smith Jr. in 1989. 

Faurot still owns and runs the popular establishment, complete with photos, helmets, and other mementos of their respective college and NFL careers. Bronco’s is the name they came up with for “Billy Ray and Ron’s company.”

“He would come in and light up a room. He was a very huge personality, which was great for me because I was a quiet guy. And me being his roommate through college really helped me, you know, become a more outgoing person.”

Billy Ray Smith Jr., who followed in his father’s famous footsteps, would enjoy a 10-year NFL career. A local broadcasting career would follow, along with a successful marriage to San Diego news anchor Kimberly Hunt, with whom he shares a daughter. 

He became a fixture in San Diego and an ambassador for “America’s Finest City.” And in 2012, he was among the speakers at a memorial service for his teammate Junior Seau, the San Diego Chargers linebacker whose suicide was also blamed on a post-mortem CTE diagnosis.

“I may be lucky that I got hurt after my second year with the pros. It may have somehow saved my life, you know. Who knows,” Faurot said of the knee injuries that ended his own NFL career.

Ron Faurot will then hold close to his fond memories of his friend, including when their college coach Lou Holtz made it to the rehearsal dinner for Billy Ray Smith Jr’s wedding. That picture of the three of them together is on the wall of memories at Bronco’s too.

“I hate to see him gone, and he’s going to be missed,” said Faurot.