Saturday
NFL News, Opinion, Top PostsWhy Emmitt Smith is the greatest of his era
EDDIE LEE
NFLPosts.com Editor
Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Dick LeBeau, Floyd Little, John Randle, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
There is little debate that Jerry Rice is the greatest (receiver) of all time. That was his nickname, after all, the GOAT.
In his prime, Rice was the most dangerous player on every field he stepped on. And still no one could stop him. His numbers speak for themselves. He laps the field in every receiving category.
Moreover, his role in the development and the invasion of the West Coast offense cements his status as a hall of famer and a pioneer of sorts.
The case for Emmitt Smith is not quite so clear.
Is he, like Rice, a first-ballot HoFer? Undoubtedly.
Is he the greatest (runner) of all time?
Some experts don’t even place him fourth best, behind Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders.
Like Rice, Smith leads every career rushing category and has a healthy enough gap that his numbers will stand for years to come.
But for some reason, Smith’s numbers don’t carry the same weight.
Many point to Smith enjoying the benefits of a massive offensive line and a stellar cast that already includes 2 hall of famers; QB Troy Aikman and WR Michael Irvin.
Aikman and Irvin notwithstanding, how quickly they forget.
Critics recall Larry Allen, Erik Williams, Mark Stepnoski, Mark Tuinei and Nate Newton, not realizing that Allen didn’t start at G until Smith’s sixth season and forgetting the car crash that derailed Williams’ dominance after two seasons.
Stepnoski would leave as a free agent. Newton and Tuinei received Pro Bowl accolades but as Newton once said, before Smith came along, they were just fat guys.
Never flashy, Smith’s calling cards were outstanding patience, vision and surprising power and quickness. Attributes that don’t show up on highlight reels. They do however lead to first downs and touchdowns. And that’s why the Cowboys offense didn’t leave the field.
To do it for 15 years, at 5-foot-9 and 210-pounds, was exceptional. To do that and also be the engine of 3 Super Bowl champions is unparalleled.
Some even consider Smith’s longevity a negative. Unlike Brown and Sanders, Smith continued running and running well past the age of 30.
There’s something iconic about dying young and not fading away but at a time when most backs lose a step or three, Smith kept chugging until moving well past Payton.
You can’t really compare players of different eras. I never saw Jim Brown run live and I never saw Don Hutson catch a ball. But even if I did, it’s astonishingly difficult to compare them to today’s stars because the game has evolved so much.
Smith had Sanders and another hall of famer, Thurman Thomas as contemporaries.
Sanders was the most elusive and in the pure essence of the running back position, the most otherworldly.
Thomas was perhaps the best all-round back of the three.
But give me rock-steady production every Sunday and I’ll show you a winner. Smith, all he did was carry a team to 3 Super Bowls.
In 1993, the Cowboys went 0-2 while Smith held out for a richer contract. With him, they turned up 12-2, including a career-defining and division-clinching 16-13 overtime win against the New York Giants: 42 touches, 229 yards from scrimmage, the only Cowboys TD and a separated shoulder.
Those ’90s Cowboys became the NFL’s team of the decade. Those players know who made them great: That steady, if unspectacular, force that propelled the 17th pick from the 1990 draft to 18,355 rushing yards and 175 TDs.
