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John Smith (Football)

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Football Player

The Resume

    (December 30, 1949- )
    Born in Leafield, Oxfordshire , United Kingdom
    American football placekicker
    Birth name is John Michael Smith
    Played for the New England Patriots (1974-1983)
    Ran the JSSA Magic (John Smith Soccer Academy) and The John Smith Sports Center, in Milford, Massachusetts
    Also ran the popular soccer camp, John Smith's #1 Soccer School
    Official team jersey number was #1
    Retired after the 1983 season following arthroscopic surgery on his injured kicking knee

Why he might be annoying:

    He has the most generic sounding name possible.
    His first kickoff was so poor that Howard Cosell commented that he could be 'back in England' if he continued to kick like that (he later claimed to have been distracted by the trash talking on the kickoff line).
    His wife apparently took Cosell literally and called him asking if he was getting sent home for the 20-yard kickoff.
    His initial lack of familiarity with American Football lingo resulted in many clueless moments on the field, e.g. kicking his first field goal without his helmet and gear, not understanding what the meaning of the term 'down' was, etc.
    He enjoyed a successful career in American Football, but will be forever linked with Howard Cosell's Monday Night Football shocking announcement of John Lennon's assassination as he was attempting a game-winning field goal (Dec. 8, 1980).
    The announcement would not have been heard by either the game attendees or the players themselves, but Smith's pained reaction is mistakenly interpreted as a reaction to the news.
    In reality Smith and the audience were both reacting to the fact that his field goal kick was blocked by the Miami Dolphins defensive line, basically costing the Patriots the game.
    He was at the center of the infamous 'Snowplow Game' at Foxboro Stadium in which convicted felon Mark Henderson cleared the way for him to win against the Miami Dolphins, with a runaway snowplow (Dec. 12, 1982).

Why he might not be annoying:

    As of the 2014 season, he's the #3 leading scorer in Patriots history.
    He led the NFL in scoring in 1979 and 1980.
    He trained to be a teacher at King Alfred's College, Winchester in England between 1968 and 1971.
    By some strange twist of fate, he had ambitions to be a British Footballer, but ended up playing for the NFL.
    He was offered his first professional contract to play soccer at age 16, but he turned it down, to pursue his education.
    He first became interested in American football while working at a kid's soccer camp.
    He was hazed by his teammates who liked to make fun of his British accent.
    Ironically, he frequently amused his teammates by getting on the table and serenading them with Beatles songs at dinner.
    When he figured out that was a form of hazing, too, he put an end to it by standing on the table and singing 'God Save the Queen' badly, at which point they pelted him with rolls and never asked him to sing again.
    On his association with John Lennon's death, he said 'It's amazing I was associated with his death, growing up a Beatles fan and being the only Englishman in pro football. It's amazing how things happen in this world.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 91.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying