The son of a railroad man, Roger Duane Smith was a standout high school fullback at Uniontown, Alabama in 1956. His high school coach knew his favorite SEC player was Georgia quarterback Zeke Bratkowski so he dubbed the star fullback with the nickname “Zeke” and – it stuck.
Although Zeke had been a star at Uniontown, he went unsigned by near by Alabama. But his father worked with Shug Jordan’s dad and the relationship led to him gaining one of the last available scholarships to play football for Auburn University.
Jordan quickly moved the big back to the interior line.