Emmitt Smith
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| Emmitt Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Date of birth | May 15, 1969 (age 37) |
| Place of birth |  Pensacola, Florida |
| Position(s) | Running Back |
| College | Florida |
| NFL Draft | 1990 / Round 1/ Pick 17 |
| Career Highlights | |
| Pro Bowls | 8 |
| Awards | 1993 AP NFL MVP 1993 PFWA MVP 1993 Super Bowl MVP 1993 UPI NFC Offensive Player of the Year 1993 Bert Bell Award 1990 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year |
| Honors | NFL 1990s All-Decade Team Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor Gator Football Ring of Honor |
| Records | NFL Career Rushing Yards NFL Career Rushing TDs Dallas Cowboys Career Rushing Yards Dallas Cowboys Career Rushing TDs |
| Stats | |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1990-2002 2003-2004 |
Dallas Cowboys Arizona Cardinals |
Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969 in Pensacola, Florida) is a former American football player, who played for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. Smith is a three time Super Bowl champion and the NFL's all time rushing leader, a record formerly held by his childhood hero Walter Payton. Smith surpassed Payton on October 27, 2002 against the Seattle Seahawks at Texas Stadium. He is the only running back to ever have won a Super Bowl championship, the NFL Most Valuable Player award, the NFL rushing crown, and the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award all in the same season (1993).
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[edit] NFL records
Emmitt Smith is the first player in NFL history to have five straight seasons with over 1,400 rushing yards. Smith and Jim Brown are the only players with seven straight 10-touchdown seasons to start their career. With 1,021 yards rushing in 2001, Smith became the first player in NFL history with 11 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons and the first to post 11 1,000-yard rushing seasons in a career. He is also the NFL's all-time leader in rushing attempts with 4,409.
Smith currently holds the NFL record in career rushing yards with 18,355 and is the only player in NFL history to rush for over 18,000 yards, breaking the previous record held by Walter Payton, on October 27, 2002. He leads all running backs with 166 career touchdowns, and his 175 total touchdowns ranks him second only to Jerry Rice's 207 touchdowns. The sum of his rushing yards, receiving yards (3,224) and fumble return yards(-15), gave him a total of 21,564 yards from the line of scrimmage, making him one of only four players in NFL history to eclipse the 21,000-combined yards mark.
Smith also accumulated a number of NFL postseason records, including rushing touchdowns (19), consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (9) and 100-yard rushing games (7). His 1,586 yards rushing is also tops on the NFL postseason chart, and he shares the total playoff touchdown mark of 21 with Thurman Thomas. Smith is one of only five NFL players who have amassed over 10,000 career-rushing yards and 400 career receptions.
Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice are the only two non-kickers to score 1000 points in a career.
Smith is also the only player in NFL History to rush for over 1,000 yards in 12 seasons, all consecutive
[edit] Playing style
Beyond his statistical excellence, Emmitt Smith was noted for being a very durable back with excellent vision, great balance, a competitive heart, and one of the most complete players to ever play the position of running back. Smith excelled at running between the tackles as a highly efficient downhill runner skilled at cutting through quickly changing gaps toward "daylight", but was also skilled in running to the outside, and catching the ball as a receiver. Although Smith is right handed, he mainly carried the ball in his left hand.
In the mold of Walter Payton, Smith was a great blocker in pass protection - the great blocking fullback Daryl "Moose" Johnston noted that Smith was better in pass protection than he was.
During his career, he was often compared to Detroit Lions Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders as both men were extremely successful for their respective teams during the decade of the 1990's. While he was not known to be the human highlight reel Sanders was, some critics argued that Smith was more of a complete back who would get the hard yards.
In 1999, three years before becoming the game's all-time rushing yardage leader, he was ranked number 68 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
[edit] Memorable Game
One of the most memorable games that stand out in Emmitt Smith's illustrious career was the 1993 regular season finale against the New York Giants at the Meadowlands on Janurary 2, 1994. Both teams entered the game with a record of 11-4 and the NFC Eastern Divisional Crown and home field advantage throughout the playoffs were on the line.
The Cowboys were up 10-0 in the second quarter with less than 2 minutes to go. On a 3rd down and 2 near their own goal line, Emmitt Smith got the handoff from Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and with a block by guard Nate Newton, Emmitt ran for a long gain before being dragged down in Giant territory. On that play, Smith landed on the hard Meadowland artificial turf resulting in a first degree shoulder separation. The New York Giants came back with 2 David Treadwell field goals and a 1 yard Jared Bunch run tying the score at 13-13 in regulation.
In overtime, Emmitt Smith handled the ball on 42 of the 52 yards on the Cowboys winning 52 yard drive before Eddie Murray kicked the game winning field goal. The Cowboys won the game 16-13 and this marked the only time in John Madden's commentatary career that he went down to congratulate a player on his gusty performance and playing through pain.
Smith finished the game with 168 yards on 32 carries and caught 10 passes for 68 yards. In countless interviews over the years by NFL Films, Smith went on to say that he was in pain the entire time during the injury and that every time he was tackled he could hear cracks and popping sounds from his shoulder while tears were in his eyes due to the excruciating pain.
Due to his memorable performance and becoming the NFL's leading rusher, he was awarded the NFL's Most Valuable Player that year. Smith would later become the only player in NFL history to win the NFL rushing title, the NFL Most Valuable Player award, a Super Bowl title, and the Super Bowl MVP award all in the same season.
[edit] Personal life
Sometime in Emmit Smith's academic career, he received a paper with his name spelled "Emmitt" (notice the two T's). Emmit liked it, however, and decided to start spelling his name the same way. Thus was born the new Emmitt Smith. His father is Emmit Smith II and as a child, to avoid confusion, he was nicknamed "Scoey." He married Patricia Southall, on April 22, 2000. She is a former Miss Virginia, and the ex-wife of actor/comedian Martin Lawrence. Their son, Emmitt IV, was born on Smith's 33rd birthday, May 15. He currently has 4 children and lives in a suburb of Dallas, TX. His entire family was on-hand and present on the sidelines that October day in 2002 when he surpassed Walter Payton for the NFL rushing title. Emmitt Smith now works for the ESPN Network.
On August 14, 2006, his grandfather, Emmit James Smith Sr., died in Pensacola; he was 82.
Emmitt Smith is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
[edit] In retirement
In February 2005, Smith was released by the Arizona Cardinals, and signed a one day contract for no money with his former team (Dallas Cowboys)- after which he immediately retired as a Cowboy as that was the team he played for from 1990-2002
In September 2005, Smith signed on to serve as a studio analyst on the NFL Network show, NFL Total Access.
On September 19, 2005, at halftime of the Cowboys-Redskins game (broadcast on Monday Night Football), Smith was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor with his longtime teammates Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin.
Smith becomes eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010, and it is widely expected that he will be inducted on his first attempt. He will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame on July 21, 2007 as a 2007 Division I-A inductee.
On July 23, 2006, Smith was a judge at the Miss Universe 2006 pagent.
In the fall of 2006, Smith won the third season of Dancing with the Stars - Videos - [2] with professional dancer Cheryl Burke. Smith was praised for "making dancing look manly" and for his "natural charm", and Burke was given credit for coaching Smith while still allowing him to improvise some moves.
On September 30, 2006, he was one of the first four Gator legends inducted into the Florida Football Ring of Honor, alongside Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, and Jack Youngblood.
On March 12, 2007, Smith joined ESPN as a studio analyst for their NFL pregame coverage. Smith will join Chris Berman, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Ron Jaworski and Chris Mortensen. He, Mortensen, Jackson, Berman and analyst Steve Young will do the Monday Night Football countdown each week.[1]
[edit] Career rushing statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Attempts | Yards | YPC | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 365 | 1,563 | 4.3 | 12 |
| 1992 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 373 | 1,713 | 4.6 | 18 |
| 1993 | Dallas Cowboys | 14 | 283 | 1,486 | 5.3 | 9 |
| 1994 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 368 | 1,484 | 4.0 | 21 |
| 1995 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 377 | 1,773 | 4.7 | 25 |
| 1996 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 327 | 1,204 | 3.7 | 12 |
| 1997 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 261 | 1,074 | 4.1 | 17 |
| 1998 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 319 | 1,332 | 4.2 | 13 |
| 1999 | Dallas Cowboys | 15 | 329 | 1,397 | 4.2 | 11 |
| 2000 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 294 | 1,203 | 4.1 | 9 |
| 2001 | Dallas Cowboys | 14 | 261 | 1,021 | 3.9 | 3 |
| 2002 | Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 254 | 1,262 | 4.8 | 14 |
| 2003 | Arizona Cardinals | 10 | 90 | 256 | 2.8 | 2 |
| 2004 | Arizona Cardinals | 15 | 267 | 937 | 3.5 | 9 |
| Career | Dallas/Arizona | 226 | 4,409 | 18,355 | 4.16 | 174 |
| Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor inductees |
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1975: Bob Lilly | [1976: Don Meredith | 1976: Don Perkins | 1977: Chuck Howley | 1981: Mel Renfro | 1983: Roger Staubach | 1989: Lee Roy Jordan | 1993: Tom Landry | 1994: Tony Dorsett | 1994: Randy White | 2001: Bob Hayes | 2003: Tex Schramm | 2004: Cliff Harris | 2004: Rayfield Wright | 2005: Troy Aikman | 2005: Emmitt Smith | 2005: Michael Irvin |
Categories: 1969 births | Living people | American people | AP NFL MVP Award winners | American football running backs | Arizona Cardinals players | College Football Hall of Fame | Dallas Cowboys players | Florida Gators football players | People from Pensacola, Florida | National Conference Pro Bowl players | NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners | NFL 1990s All-Decade Team | Phi Beta Sigma brothers | Super Bowl MVPs | Franchise MVPs- Emmitt Smith
