Gene Washington couldn't believe the news when he heard it. His good friend and former Michigan State teammate Bubba Smith was dead at 66.
"I had no idea that he was even ill or that anything could be wrong," Washington said Wednesday night. "It's incredibly sad because Bubba was such a larger-than-life figure. Nothing surprised you with Bubba."His best work, though, came in college, and Smith was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
“He was simply a good guy,” former Michigan State teammate Robert Viney said in a statement released through the university. “His size made him an intimidating figure, but he was a real gentleman. He was a helluva player.”Smith played for his father, Willie Ray Smith, in Beaumont, Texas, before heading to Michigan State, where he was an All-American in 1966.
As an actor his most memorable role was playing Moses Hightower, the soft-spoken officer in the "Police Academy" series. He also appeared in such television series as "Good Times," "Charlie's Angels," and "Half Nelson," and was a regular in the ground-breaking Miller Lite commercials featuring retired players.
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