John was the son of John G.. and Dorothy S. Smurda and the husband of Barbara (Mokris) Smurda. As a high school student-athlete at Dieruff High School, Allentown, he garnered eight varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball and played in Pennsylvania's Big 33 football game in 1970. He received a full football scholarship to Ohio State University and was a tight end for the great Woody Hayes coached football teams of the early 1970's. He played in two Rose Bowls, winning in 1974 as a starting tight end. Coach Earl Bruce called John a fine athlete, an outstanding individual and a great model of an OSU student-athlete. He graduated from Ohio State with a degree in landscape architecture. He was drafted into the World Professional Football League by the Southern California Suns in 1974 but his professional career was cut short by an injury. He was a longtime steel executive with numerous firms, most recently Vice President of Sales at Macsteel Service Centers USA, Cincinnati, Ohio. He resided in the Turpin Hills area of Cincinnati, Ohio.
John was the son of John G.. and Dorothy S. Smurda and the husband of Barbara (Mokris) Smurda. As a high school student-athlete at Dieruff High School, Allentown, he garnered eight varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball and played in Pennsylvania's Big 33 football game in 1970. He received a full football scholarship to Ohio State University and was a tight end for the great Woody Hayes coached football teams of the early 1970's. He played in two Rose Bowls, winning in 1974 as a starting tight end. Coach Earl Bruce called John a fine athlete, an outstanding individual and a great model of an OSU student-athlete. He graduated from Ohio State with a degree in landscape architecture. He was drafted into the World Professional Football League by the Southern California Suns in 1974 but his professional career was cut short by an injury. He was a longtime steel executive with numerous firms, most recently Vice President of Sales at Macsteel Service Centers USA, Cincinnati, Ohio. He resided in the Turpin Hills area of Cincinnati, Ohio.
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