Raymond “World” Smith III, a native of Washington, District of Columbia, departed this earthly life and entered into eternal life on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. He was preceded in death by his mother Marion Annetta Cason-Smith.

Raymond “World” Smith was a junior when he entered H.D. Woodson Senior High School in Washington, District of Columbia during the fall of 1984 at 6 feet 6 inches weighing in at more than 450 pounds. Almost immediately, an assistant coach coined the “World” nickname. Raymond was featured in a photo snapped by a Washington Post photographer, who’d searched “all around the area” for the right globe, says Smith. The perfect, appropriately enormous sphere was located at the Library of Congress.
Raymond met the photographer there on a Tuesday, and the two discussed poses.
The photographer suggested the globe be held, but Raymond said “Nah, I’ll just sit right here. The photograph appeared alongside an article that stated that he was perhaps the largest high school football player in America.
The Post certainly wasn’t the only media outlet to cover Raymond. During his two years at Woodson, he gained national fame, also appearing in the New York Times, the George Michael Sports Machine, Washington City Paper, JET Magazine, and NBC Nightly News. It wasn’t long before Raymond attained celebrity status. Children walked up to him just to touch him. A fan took a bus across town and chased him down after school for an autograph. And a young woman from Chicago wrote him proposing marriage. He wrote her back, “Thanks for the proposal, but I’m not ready to get married.”
Raymond had never played for a football team before coming to Woodson—though it wasn’t for lack of trying. “I wanted to play when I was 11 years old,” he says. “But I was 200-something pounds. I couldn’t play with the kids I went down to see at practice because they were 85 to 95 pounds.” A small break came when Smith was still in middle school. A Woodson assistant coach saw him playing football on the street and told the school’s head coach, Bob Headen, who invited Smith over to practice with his high schoolers.
When Smith’s family moved back into D.C. after living in Maryland for several years, he enrolled at Woodson and immediately went out for the football team. Headen bent his tryout rules a bit for his gigantic new prospective player: He told him that if he could finish a lap, he was on the team. Raymond jogged about 120 yards, and walked the rest of the way around. That was apparently satisfactory.
During his two years at Woodson, the team had strong records, though they never were league champions. World was also named “Most Athletic,” “Tallest,” and “Most Popular” by his peers in his senior yearbook.
Raymond was believed to have been the largest student ever to play high school football. After graduation, Raymond had originally planned to attend either Tennessee State University or Norfolk State University but chose Grambling State University after being contacted by the school’s coaching staff.

Grambling was unprepared to take on the “World.” Raymond sat out (redshirting) his first year in college to get on a weight program and work on his speed. He couldn’t play in the first two games of his sophomore year because the school could not obtain a uniform pants big enough. Raymond excelled as a left and right tackle lineman at Grambling. He was ranked as one of the top 80 Grambling college football players of all time.

He leaves his memories to be cherished by his loving family; daughter, Brittney Clark; sons, Raymond Smith IV and Christopher Clark of Las Vegas, Nevada; three grandchildren, Jordan, Caleb and Mia Clark of Las Vegas, Nevada; father, Raymond (Viola) Smith Jr. of Calverton, Maryland; three brothers, Wendell Smith of Smyrna, Georgia and Darrell (Chrishania) Smith and Michael Whitley of Calverton, Maryland; two sisters, Cheryle Smith of Sugar Hill, Georgia and Tiffany Smith of Calverton, Maryland; two nieces, Kaylynn Smith and Shantise Whitley; four nephews, Jaden Sutter, Bryson, Michael and Tyrel Whitley of Calverton, Maryland; six aunts; Shirann Harris, Renita (Wailon) Jordan, Lenora (Richard) Bell of Norfolk, Virginia; Mona (William) Rheams of Forestville, Maryland; Renita Cason of Capitol Heights, Maryland and Shirley Cason of Clearwater, Florida; three uncles, Antonio Cason of District Heights, Maryland; Benjamin Smith of Kentucky; and Bernard Smith of North Carolina; two great uncles Leroy Cason of Bowie, Maryland and Theodore Cason of Chesapeake, Virginia; one great aunt Evelyn Cason of Chesapeake, Virginia, and a host of other devoted relatives and friends.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Raymond Frederick Smith III, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.