Born and raised in Pensacola Florida, Emmitt grew up loving football. He learned to play with his cousins and friends on the empty sandlots around the neighborhoods. They teased him at the beginning, "He was too small for football" His idol was Walter Payton, one of the greatest running backs to ever play in the NFL. Emmitt dreamed of achieving great things on the football field, of being compared to Walter Payton. Like a lot of boys, Emmitt wanted to score touchdowns, win games, and become a football hero.
During pick up games with his family and friends, when he would get knocked down, his brother's would tease him.
" If you can't get up, then you ain't big enough for football" they would taunt.
Emmitt would keep getting up. Emmitt's lifetime want was to break Walter Payton's All Time Leading Rushing Record. If he was going to achieve it, then he had to learn how to play smarter, not harder.
At Escambia High School, Emmitt tried out for the football team. He told the coach he wanted to be a running back. The coach looked at Emmitt, and just shook his head . He thought Emmitt wasn't big enough,nor fast enough to be a successful running back. But impressed by the desire, and Emmitt's love of the game, he let him try out for running back. His coach wasn't the first doubter Emmitt would prove wrong.
With hard work, dedication, and desire, Emmitt proved that the biggest thing a successful player needed was heart. Opponents would consistently underestimate the young back because of his physical size, but by the end of the game there would be no doubt Emmitt had the biggest heart on the field.
During his football career at Escambia High, Smith rushed for 106 touchdowns
and 8,804 yards, which was the second most yardage in the history of
American high school football
at the time. Emmitt rushed for over 100 yards in 45 of the 49 games he
started for Escambia (including the last 28 in a row) and finished with
a 7.8 yards per carry average. Twice, he broke the 2000 yard rushing mark in a season.
For his efforts, Smith was named the USA Today and Parade Magazine high school player of the year for 1986. In 2007, Smith was named the best player in the 100 year history of Florida high school football by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
Yet despite his accomplishments and accolades, the college recruiting "experts" thought that he was too small and too slow to succeed in major college football, so Emmitt was not highly recruited. He signed to play at the University of Florida.
Emmitt Smith did not start the first two games of his college career
in the fall of 1987, but made the most of his opportunities in a
2nd-week rout of Tulsa in which he gained 109 yards on just 10 carries, including a 66 yard touchdown run. That performance earned him his first collegiate start in the next contest: the SEC opener against Alabama in Birmingham.
In his first full game, Smith promptly broke Florida's 40-year old
all-time single game rushing record, carrying 39 times for 224 yards
and 2 TDs as the Gators upset the Crimson Tide.
Smith went on to break the 1000-yard barrier in the 7th game of his
freshman season, the fastest any running back had ever broken that
barrier to begin his college career. He finished the 1987 season with 1,341 yards and was named Southeastern Conference and National Freshman of the Year. He also finished 9th in that year's Heisman voting. Not bad for a guy who wasn't supposed to big enough to play college ball.
In all, Smith owned 58 school records at the
conclusion of his Florida career despite playing on Florida teams with virtually no passing game, making him the focal point of opposing defenses.He finished the campaign with Florida records for
rushing yards in a season (1,599), rushing yards in a single game (316
versus New Mexico in October 1989), longest rushing play (96 yards against Mississippi State
in 1988), career rushing yards (3,928), and career rushing touchdowns
(36), among many others. With all these accomplishments, awards, and accolades, Emmitt should have been highly sought after in the NFL Draft. But that wasn't the case again.
Despite his collegiate success, some NFL teams still felt that Smith was too small and slow for the pro game. He fell to the 17th pick in the first round, when he was picked by the Dallas Cowboys, who had traded up to draft him.
When asked what he would say to the critics that Emmitt was too small for the rigors of Professional Football; 2nd year coach Jimmy Johnson (who had coached against Emmitt at coached at rival Miami) said he made the mistake of underestimating Emmitt in college, he would not make that mistake in the NFL.
The Dallas Cowboys of 1990 were not what you called a good team. Having only won 11 of the last 44 games. A brash new owner took over in 1989, a new coach to replace the legendary Tom Landry. The new owner and coach were stumbling through learning the business of running a pro football team. They had a good young quarterback in Troy Aikman, and a cocky wide reciever named Michael Irvin. Now, they had Emmitt Smith. These "Triplets" were the core of the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's, who came to dominate the NFL and have come to be recognized as the Team of the Decade.
Smith was the first player in NFL history to have five consecutive seasons with over 1,400 rushing yards.
One of only three players with seven straight 10-touchdown seasons to start
their careers. With 1,021 rushing yards 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 the
NFL's all-time leader in rushing attempts with 4,409. 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 also accumulated several 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 top on
the NFL postseason chart, and he shares the total playoff touchdown
mark of 21 with Thurman Thomas. With the Cowboys, Smith won three Super Bowl rings and rushed for over 100 yards in two of those games, Super Bowl XXVII (108 yards and a touchdown, along with 6 receptions for 27 yards), and Super Bowl XXVIII (132 yards and two touchdowns, along with 4 receptions for 26 yards). Smith received the Super Bowl MVP award for Super Bowl XXVIII, becoming the only Cowboys running back ever to win the award out of all their Super Bowl wins.
He is the only running back to ever win 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).
On the way to Superbowl XXVIII, The Dallas Cowboys had to go to New York to play the Giants, a hated Division rival, and the favorites to win the game.
The winner of the game went to the SuperBowl, the loser went home. The game that Emmitt played that day wrote his ticket into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Emmitt Smith had proven that it's not how big the the man is in the game, it's how big the game is in the man.
NOW THAT'S COOL !!
But with the accollades, and fame, Emmitt wasn't satisfied. He still had a goal he wanted to reach.
Emmitt Breaks Walter Payton's Rushing Record
Emmitt Smith currently holds the NFL record in career rushing yards with
18,355, breaking the previous record held by Walter Payton, on October
27 of the 2002 NFL season. He leads all running backs with 164 career
rushing touchdowns, and his 175 total touchdowns ranks him second only
to Jerry Rice's
208. The sum of his rushing yards, receiving yards (3,224) and fumble
return yards (-15) give 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.
One of the most honored records in Sports, Emmitt broke the record that was held by his boyhood idol, Walter Payton.
Life after football;
In 2006 Smith made his first move toward becoming a real estate
developer. He teamed with another Cowboy legend, Roger Staubach, the
founder and CEO of Staubach Co., to form Smith/Cypress Partners LP, a
real estate development enterprise specializing in transforming
underutilized parcels in densely populated areas into commercially
viable properties anchored by national retail giants.
In his first deal, Smith helped the firm sign Mervyn's, a
California-based department store chain, to anchor a $45 million,
230,000-square-foot project in Phoenix, where he last played for the
Cardinals two seasons ago.
The story is Emmitt worked for free for Roger during the off-seasons , just to learn the business.
Dancing With The Stars
Answering a dare from his friend Jerry Rice, Emmitt entered as a contestant of the third season of Dancing with the Stars. Emmitt actually did pretty good, and made it to the finals. Here is the final performance of the contest.
The Winning Moment
Now how cool is that?
Then in 2010 Emmitt got the call that every little boy who ever played the game dreams of getting. He had been selected into the Pro-Football Hall Of Fame during his first year of eligibility. An adventure that began in the empty sandlots of Pensacola, and ended in Canton Ohio. A journey every boy who straps on a pair of cleats has dreams of. It was Emmitt Smith's Lifelong Wish. To be selected by your peers to be enshrined as a football immortal in the Hall O Fame.
Emmitt Smith discussing being selected to the Pro-Football Hall of Fame
Emmitt Smith Hall of Fame Induction Speech
Not bad for a kid who was always told he was "TooSmall For Football"
Learn more About Emmitt Smith's Adventure in Football;
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