Former Cowboys defensive lineman Don Smerek dies from cancer at age 66

Former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Don Smerek has died of cancer at the age of 66, according to several reports.

Smerek, who played for the Nevada Wolf Pack in college before joining the Cowboys in 1981 after going undrafted a year earlier, died last week.

He spent seven seasons in Dallas, playing a total of 69 games.

“He was a great teammate, a great person,” Pro Football Hall of Famer and Cowboys icon Randy White said The Dallas Morning News.

‘As a footballer he was just solid and I can always count on him. He came in on third downs and rushed the passer and that thing about Don as a football player, he was 100 percent.”

Smerek and White were also close to the playing field, as the pair often went fishing together in the past.

“A great teammate who played football and off the field we became really good friends. He was my fishing partner and we used to go fishing and all the things that went with it,” White recalled.

Smerek, who grew up in Henderson, Nevada, continued to live in Texas long after he retired from the NFL.

Smerek spent his entire career (seven NFL seasons) in Dallas after going undrafted in 1980

Debbie Nye – Smerek’s sister – spoke about her brother’s magnetic personality.

“His teammates are lifelong friends, even going back to high school, college and the NFL,” Nye said, via The Dallas Morning News.

“There are still all those people who were pretty much by his side. He was a larger-than-life individual, a very magnetic personality.”

Smerek’s life will be honored at a private memorial service expected to take place later this month in Henderson, Nevada. He is survived by his wife Tandi, his three brothers, his sister, as well as several nieces and nephews.