Billy Roy Smith with Raider Red

Friends honor the late Billy Roy Smith by getting Texas Tech to dedicate planned Raider Red statue to him

TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com

If you are from Texas, or if you are a fan of college sports, you probably know who “Raider Red” is. Well, you might not know that’s his name, but you probably recognize this distinctive cartoon-like character that is the costume mascot for Texas Tech University. Soon, a statue of Raider Red will stand on the Texas Tech campus, thanks in large part to the efforts of Texas Tech alumnus Billy Roy Smith, who was not only a Red Raider cheerleader back in the day but was also the man behind the Raider Red mask in 1981.

And now, thanks to the efforts of Smith’s many friends and Texas Tech fans, when it is built, the Raider Red statue will be dedicated to his memory, honoring the man known as one of the biggest Texas Tech fans ever.

Smith, who lived in Dallas for many years before he and his husband, David Haass, moved to San Antonio, died April 3 in a bicycling accident. In the days after his death, Carson Roye — another former Raider Red and Tech grad — launched a Change.org petition to convince TT officials to dedicate the soon-to-be-built statue to Smith. This week, Roye said, he heard from Tech President Lawrence Schovanec who told him that the dedication will happen.

“At first, I reached out the university to try and get something simple [in memory of Smith after his death] — something like getting the Will Rogers statue wrapped in black for a few days in his memory,” Roye said.

“They told me they would have to get approval for that, and it would take a while to the approval. Then I thought about it, and I wondered, why fight so hard for something small and temporary. Billy deserves something permanent.”

That’s when Roye launched the Change.org petition. Within 24 hours, he said, the petition had gotten more than 4,000 signatures.

So Roye emailed Schovanec to ask for his support. “He responded right away,” Roye said of the university president. “It was really cool how fast he responded and supportive he is of it. He also knew Billy personally.

“He told me he supports dedicating the statue to Billy, and he will get a plaque put in place,” Roye added.

“He has the people in place to get it done.”

Roye explained that Smith spent the last seven years getting funding secured to pay for the statue of Raider Red, developing a 107-step sponsorship plan to raise the $250,000 necessary. “A bank came through at the end and filled the gap between what we had and what we needed, and by the first of this year, it was fully-funded,” Roye said, noting that construction of the 10-foot statue of the school’s costume mascot begins in the fall.

According to a February 2020 post by Lubbock radio state KFMX 94.5, Smith was a Texas Tech cheerleader from 1978-80 and from 1983-84. He was Raider Red in 1981, a member of the Saddle Tramps spirit group from 1980-84 (Saddle Tramps is an all-male group, the female spirit group is the High Riders), on the National Cheerleaders Association staff from 1980-86, founder and owner of Spirit Celebration cheer event company from 1998-2018. (Spirit Celebration is now part of Varsity Spirit.) Smith was also a member of Cheer Dallas.

There is a scholarship in Smith’s name for Spirit Program students at Texas Tech, and Smith appeared in the Netflix series Cheer, which focuses on the award-winning cheer squad at Navarro College in Corsicana.

Roye, a Tech student from 2013-16, said he first met Smith when Roye became Raider Red. The two became friends and, after Roye graduated and moved to the DFW area, they often watched Texas Tech sports together. “In 2019, we watched the first game at American Airlines Center together,” he said.

Paul J. Williams, who said he met Smith through mutual friends about 2012 or 2013, said that Smith was “the most positive person I think I’ve ever met. I don’t remember ever seeing him be angry or negative about anything.

“He worked with the Texas Tech cheerleaders every year, and he was always helping other cheerleaders or aspiring cheerleaders. He has done so much for so many people; his benevolence is amazing,” Williams continued. “The statue dedication is absolutely glorious. Billy absolutely deserves it.”

Let’s Go Celebrate: A Tribute to Billy Roy Smith, will be held Saturday, May 14, from 2-3 p.m., with a reception rally from 3-4 p.m., at Marriott Dallas Allen Hotel and Convention Center, 777 Water Creek Blvd. in Allen. Those attending are encouraged to wear Texas Tech red and black.