Ed NeSmith

Hal Hayes, Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame member, in describing Ed NeSmith once wrote in a newspaper article, “He could outrun a deer in a head-to-head footrace. He was master of the play called the option, possessing a pair of hands that were lightning and a wiggle of the hip found only in snakes.”

Ed NeSmith was honored by the 20-man panel that picked an all-time great Albertville football team. Hayes was covering sports for the Sand Mountain Reporter when NeSmith was selected the outstanding quarterback of the 11 honorees. NeSmith at 6 feet, 2 inches and 175 pounds passed with radar-like accuracy (completing 42 of 59 as a senior – an 83 percent average) and ran like the wind (going 1,106 yards rushing and with punt and kickoff returns). NeSmith’s Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame teammates include Neal Reed, Jimmy Alford and Tommy Maddux.

As a sophomore, NeSmith was a starting defensive back. Aggie coach Vernon Wells selected him as QB/DB and punter his final two years. In NeSmith’s senior year he was named honorable mention All-State and became the first Aggie back to play in the Alabama All-Star game in 1954, where he was coached by Joe Chorba of Guntersville. Prior to the All-Star game, the Aggies had beaten J.B. Davis and the Marshall County High School Wildcats. Davis with 18 TDs on the year was held scoreless by the stubborn Aggies. NeSmith and Davis had the opportunity of other meetings with NeSmith at Mississippi State and Davis at Georgia.

Coach Murray Warmath recruited NeSmith to MSU. Warmath soon departed for the head coaching job at Minnesota where he remained for 18 years. Darrell Royal, with assistant Wade Walker, took over the Mississippi State program. Then, Royal left for Texas and Walker became the head coach. NeSmith, a two-year letterman at QB/DB, finished his play for Coach Walker in 1957.

NeSmith left Albertville High School as an ‘A’ student. The maroon scholar/athlete left college having been on the Dean’s List eight semesters and the President’s List seven semesters. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and graduated with highest honors (2.82 out of a possible 3.0).

Albertville businessman Edward Neal NeSmith has been a community and church leader in his hometown. Education has always been important to him as indicated by his years of service as a trustee of Albertville schools and as a past president of the Albertville City Board of Education. At one point in the early 1960s, NeSmith served as part-time assistant football coach for Coach G.B. Beasley at Albertville.

Albertville’s own version of the “Snake” from 1951 to 1953 – Ed NeSmith.