Charles "Charlie" Henry Smith (born January 18, 1946) attended Castlemont High School where he played football. He went on to be number 23 for the Oakland Raiders. His running career is best known for the 'Heidi Game' on November 17, 1968, a nationally televised game in which the Raiders played the Jets in Oakland. The Raiders were losing, but with a less than a minute left in the game, Smith scored one of two touchdowns for a win! BUT the network cut the game off because it went over the scheduled time and switched to the movie Heidi, outraging viewers across the eastern U.S.
NBC executives had tried to call the studios to prevent the switch, but the switchboards were already jammed with viewers complaining about the impending switch. This lead to changes in how the networks broadcast sporting events; the newly-merged NFL required the networks to show broadcast games to their conclusion. 1
Links and References
- Charlie Smith on Wikipedia
- Heidi Game on Wikipedia
