I love football, but more than football, I love football players. I want to know the people under the helmets. I want to see the personalities that line up at scrimmage. I want to hear the thoughts of these Sunday Gladiators.I admit, I love to hear Terrell Owens or Warren Sapp make ESPN sound bites. Amazing plays and breakout games are also exciting. Top of the list however, goes to those players that endure, break records, and show a respect for themselves and the game - and no one is higher on my list than Emmitt Smith.
Emmitt has the stats, no question there. He played for 15 seasons in a position that most only last 3 and the good ones last 5. He holds the record for longest consecutive seasons rushing for 1,000 or more yards at 11 seasons. He ran for a total of 18,355 yards and is the only play to ever cross the 18K mark. With 166 career touchdowns he leads all running backs and is second overall to Jerry Rice.
Emmitt's stats barely tell the story. Emmitt has saved every football he scored a touchdown with and auctioned off the ball that broke Walter Payton's record; 100% going to charity. He has plans to auction of more, also for charity. In his later years he told Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, if he was worth more to Dallas traded than as a player, then it was okay if he was traded. Jerry held off until Bill Parcels took over as head coach, and then Emmitt left without complaint even though he still believed he could be effective after 13 seasons as a Cowboy.
Effective he was, gaining over 1,000 yards for the Arizona Cardinals and even 21 yards passing for a touchdown in his final year (in passing touchdowns, he ties Jerry Rice - rice however has thrown an interception). He was given a hero's welcome home every time he played in Dallas, no one cared what color jersey was on his back. Through his long career he never fell prey to the vices so common to NFL player, drugs and drinking. The number of times where he was upset in a news conference can be counted on one hand.
To say it as simply as I can, I loved watching Emmitt Smith play football because he loved playing football.
Posted By Mike On Thursday, September 22, 2005
Filed under life profile |
Comments (1)
katehopeeden
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Friday, September 23, 2005
1:14:00 PM
You couldn't pull me away from the tv set when the Cowboys played! That is my team :)
~K
