Sunday, April 10, 2016: Ex-Proctor star Will Smith killed in New Orleans

   Leading off today: Will Smith, the 2000 Utica Proctor graduate and Pro Bowl defensive end who won a Super Bowl with the NFL's Saints, was shot and killed shortly before midnight Saturday in New Orleans.

   Smith, 34, was scheduled to appear at his annual "Evening with All-Stars," a dinner honoring the Observer-Dispatch's 2015 All-Mohawk Valley Football Team, on Thursday in New Hartford, the paper reported.

   Smith was a New York State Sportswriters Association first-team defensive end in Class AA as a senior. He was inducted into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

   Smith's wife Racquel was wounded during the shooting, which occurred following a minor traffic accident in New Orleans' Lower Garden District. Cardell Hayes, 28, himself a former scholastic football star in Louisiana, was arrested and booked on charges of second-degree murder according to New Orleans media.

   Police said Smith and his wife were in their Mercedes Benz SUV when the vehicle was rear-ended by a Hummer H2. Smith and the driver of the Hummer "exchanged words, at which time the driver of the Hummer produced a handgun and shot the male victim (Smith) multiple times and his 34-year-old wife twice in the right leg," New Orleans police spokesman Juan Barnes said.

Photo:
Will Smith 1-hour before being shot & killed, w/Pierre Thomas & former NOPD commander Billy Ceravolo.
So sad. pic.twitter.com/PMFpRm3vOl

— Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherMackel) April 10, 2016

   Smith, part of Ohio State's 2003 national title team , was the 18th overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. He started 120 games in 10 seasons with the Saints and was named to the 2006 Pro Bowl. Smith had 67.5 career sacks, including a season-high 13 in 2009 when New Orleans capped the year by winning Super Bowl XLIV vs. Indianapolis.

   Smith, a Queens native, tore knee ligaments in the 2013 preseason, sat out the season and was released by the Saints in February 2014. He was cut by the New England Patriots during the 2014 preseason.

Will Smith was one of my Playboy All-Americans. Played RB in HS (Utica). Raised by grandma. Very quiet, exceptional work habits, great guy.

— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) April 10, 2016

   More sad news: Pearl Washington, the former Boys & Girls High star who became a Syracuse University basketball legend, is gravely ill, Syracuse.com reported.

   Washington, 52, was diagnosed last summer with a brain tumor. He is currently at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

   "The doctors have said it won't be long, but we don't know what that means," friend Mark Finney said. "It could be a month, it could be weeks. We're just accepting that God is ready for him. It's Pearl's time."

   SU players wore orange jerseys with white script letters spelling out "Pearl" this season. Washington had been thrilled to see those jerseys, Finney said.

   Ossining coach taking leave: Ossining broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the seventh and beat Carmel 3-1 on Saturday in baseball coach Bill Casey's final game before traveling to the Philippines for alternative cancer treatment, MSG Varsity reported.

   Family and friends gathered on the field for a postgame ceremony. Both teams stood on the baselines for the ceremony, and Carmel AD Susan Dullea presented Casey, 45, with a card and the game ball.

   "All I asked of my players today was for them to keep fighting," Casey said, taking a pause as he choked back tears. "And that's what you guys did."

   A father of 3-year-old twins, Casey was initially diagnosed before last season with squamous cell carcinoma, a rare form of skin cancer.    Casey, a former Journal News sportswriter, received several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation ahead of surgery last July. In February, doctors discovered that the cancer had returned.

   "That prognosis wasn't what we wanted to hear," Casey said. "We did research and felt we wanted to get away from more chemo. I'm not going to sit here and take strikes. I'm going to go out swinging."

   Boys lacrosse: Kevin Lindley and Colin Minicus combined for 13 goals as Darien (Conn.) beat reigning NYSPHSAA Class A champion Niskayuna 20-16 in interstate boys lacrosse Saturday.

   Niskayuna trailed 16-15 in the battle of defending state champs before Darien pulled away to snap the Silver Warriors' 17-game winning streak.

   Milestone: Farmingdale beat Carey 14-3 on Friday for Bob Hartranft's 700th boys lacrosse win in 48 seasons.

   "It feels great obviously, but it's a testament to the kids we had here for 48 years, good, hard-working, blue-collar kids," Hartranft said. "I've never scored a goal, I never made a save, I didn't win a faceoff. These kids have accumulated all these win over the years and I've been the beneficiary."