How Good Was Emmitt Smith Actually?

you might have heard of the Dallas Cowboys triplets EMT Smith was part of that famous Trio they helped the team win two Super Bowls even though Smith wasn't super tall Stanny had just 5A he played like a beast and even became the NFL's all-time leading rusher but how good was EMT Smith actually EMT James Smith I I I was born in Pensacola Florida on May 15th 1969 he got into football when he was eight playing in a youth league sponsored by the Salvation Army when EMT got to high school at Escambia High in Pensacola his coaches saw he was really good at football and put him on the team right away he ran for over 1,500 yards and scored 19 touchdowns as a freshman then even more 2,424 yards and 26 touchdowns as a sophomore before emt's junior year Escambia moved to a tougher class but that didn't stop him in 1985 he ran for an incredible 2,918 yards and scored 33 touchdowns winning another state championship he finished his high school career with a total of 88004 yards and 106 touchdowns making him one of the best ever in 2002 was honored by the Florida High School Athletic Association and in 2007 he was named the best high school player of the century in Florida Smith's amazing performance in high school caught the attention of all the big college football teams Nebraska Auburn and the University of Florida all wanted him on their team but EMT decided to go with Florida by the end of his freshman year EMT had racked up 1,341 yards and scored 13 touchdowns he also caught 25 passes for 184 yards he was so good that he was named one of the best players in the Southeastern conference emit sophomore year at Florida started strong he ran for over 120 yards in each game and helped his team win five games in a row but then in a game against Memphis State he got hurt pretty badly and had to sit out for a few weeks while he was on the sidelines the team lost four games in a row luckily emic came back just in time to help Florida win more games and play in The All-American Bowl against Illinois in 1989 EMT was fully healed and ready to go he had an amazing season Breaking records left and right he ran for 1,599 yards scored 14 touchdowns and even caught 21 passes for 207 yards in another touchdown after three awesome years in Florida EMT decided to enter the NFL draft instead of playing his senior year he left behind a legacy of Florida breaking 58 records and becoming one of the greatest players in the school's history he's now honored in the University of Florida athletic Hall of Fame the College Football Hall of Fame and the gator Ring of Honor when EMT decided to enter the 1990 NFL draft some Pro Scouts had doubts about it him they thought he was too small and slow to make it in the big leagues despite all the records he broke in high school and college but the Dallas Cowboys saw something special in him even though they had a rough season the year before their coach Jimmy Johnson believed in emt's Talent so they traded with the Pittsburgh Steelers to pick EMT in the 1990 draft EMT didn't start playing right away because he was holding out for a better contract but once he signed he showed everyone what he could do in his rookie year he played in 15 games rushing for 93 37 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns he also caught 24 passes for 228 yards he was so good that he made it to the Pro Bowl and was named the NFL's offensive Rookie of the Year Jimmy Johnson did something amazing with the Dallas Cowboys he turned them into a winning team pretty quickly before he got there the Cowboys already had some talented players like Michael Irving but when they added EMT Smith to the mix things really took off they called Irvin Smith and their quarterback Troy aikan the triplets because they were so good together in 1991 the Cowboys had a great season winning 11 games and making it to the playoffs for the first time in a long time even though they didn't win the Super Bowl that year EMT Smith had an amazing season he led the league in rushing yards rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns he also caught a lot of passes and scored touchdowns that way too the next year the Cowboys were even better they won 13 games and made it all the way to the Super Bowl and guess what they won EMT was the star of the game rushing for over 100 yards and scoring a touchdown he even made history by being the first player to win the rushing title in the Super Bowl in the same year in 1993 the Dallas Cowboys were back in the Super Bowl after a great season where they won 12 out of 16 games EMT had another amazing year leading the league in rushing yards yards per carry yards per game and total yards from scrimmage he also had a career high in receiving yards during one game against Philadelphia EMT ran for a record breaking 237 yards even though he hurt his shoulder during another game against the New York Giants he still played through through the pain and ran for an incredible 229 yards helping his team win an important game because of his outstanding season EMT was named MVP of the NFL and he made it to the Pro Bowl again in the Super Bowl that year the Cowboys faced the Buffalo Bills once again and just like the year before they won EMT had done it again being MVP for a second time after that Peak the Cowboys relaxed a little although they still played pretty well but they really came back strong in 1995 Emmitt rushed for a career high of 1,000 773 yards and scored 25 touchdowns setting a record fastest player to reach 100 career touchdowns EMT became the first player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in 11 consecutive seasons and 11 seasons in his career he even broke Walter Payton's record for the most rushing yards in NFL history in 2002 before the 2003 season the Dallas Cowboys went through some changes their head coach Dave Campo was fired and they brought in Bill Parcels who used to coach other NFL teams like the Giants Patriots and Jets of Parc wanted to make some changes to the team and decided to let EMT go it was a big surprise because EMT had been such a big part of the Cowboys for so long but EMT still wanted to play and he signed a 2-year deal to play for the Arizona Cardinals in the two seasons he played for the Cardinals he started 20 games and ran for 1,193 yards the team didn't do very well during those years winning only 10 games total Emitt had to deal with some injuries too in 2003 he broke his shoulder during a game against his old team the Cowboys and had to sit out for six games after the 2004 season EMT knew it was time to retire he had played his last game took off his jersey and shoes waved goodbye to the fans and walked away from the football field for good EMT signed a one-day contract with the Dallas Cowboys the team he spent most of his career with to officially retire as a cowboy after retiring EMT didn't slow down he got involved in charity work worked in commercial real estate and even won a season of the TV show Dancing with the Stars in 2010 EMT was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame which is the high honor a football player can get he joined his former teammates Troy Eggman and Michael Irvin who were already in the Hall of Fame EMT wasn't flashy on the field like some other running backs but he was incredibly effective he had a unique way of darting and slithering through Defenders always finding a way to gain yards even when it seemed impossible he didn't have blazing speed or overwhelming power but his vision leg strength and balance were topnotch one thing that set EMT apart was his durability he could take a hit and keep on going often making second and even third efforts to gain extra yards he was also a reliable receiver and a great blocker when his team needed him to protect the quarterback people often compared emit to Barry Sanders another legendary running back both of them had incredible success for their teams and won lots of rushing titles in the 1990s even current NFL players like Ezekiel Elliott think it will be really hard for anyone to break emt's records because the game has changed so much but that just shows how special EMT Smith truly was on the football field be sure to subscribe and thanks for watching