Appreciating Emmitt: Dallas’ Smith sets bar for all NFL backs

By Shawn Krest

It’s fitting that Emmitt Smith picked this season to break the NFL’s rushing record. Any other year, gunslinging quarterbacks wouldn’t be putting up unprecedented passing totals. Any other year, Dallas wouldn’t have a replacement at running back, ready to step in for Smith. Any other year, Emmitt’s record might be the top story.

It’s the story of Smith’s career. There’s always someone more flamboyant—with a better quote and a bigger controversy—to take the attention that Smith deserves. Through it all, Emmitt kept running.

He ran in the shadow of his Cowboys teammates. Troy Aikman got the commercials. Deion danced. Leon Lett’s showboating cost his team a Super Bowl touchdown; a highlight that is shown more than any of the five Smith scored in the biggest game. Jerry, Jimmy and Barry feuded. Michael Irvin wore a fur coat to his drug trial. Through it all, Emmitt kept running.

He outran the flashy backs that fantasy footballers preferred. Sure, Barry Sanders was better, if only he got to run behind Emmitt’s offensive line. Terrell Davis ran behind the best line in the league, but, for some reason, he was better than Emmitt too.

Remember Christian Okoye? Barry Foster? Natrone Means? All shined and faded while Emmitt kept going. If this year’s performance is any indication, Smith might outlast some of the stars of the "next generation" of backs—Jerome Bettis, Eddie George and Curtis Martin.

Even his two endorsements in this record-breaking season have Smith playing second fiddle. One shows several people committing credit fraud with his name. When Smith finally appears in the ad, no one believes that he is who he says he is. In the other commercial, for a long-distance calling plan, Smith plays straight man for Alf. Yet another time, the more flamboyant personality takes the spotlight.

It’s nothing new. The career leaders in baseball and basketball also needed time and perspective before the public appreciated them. Like Smith, career home run champion Hank Aaron and NBA points leader Kareem Adbul Jabbar each earned only one MVP award. Both were consistently near the top of their sports, but someone else was always the better story. Only years later, when it became clear how difficult their level of production was to attain, were their accomplishments fully appreciated.

In an attempt to lend some perspective to Smith’s numbers, we turn to Bills running back Travis Henry. Prior to this season, the second year player was asked about his goals. Henry answered, "My goal is to rush for 1,500 yards and score twelve touchdowns."

Henry seems well on his way to those totals, with 1,100 yards and eleven rushing scores. Let’s pencil him in for his 1,500 and twelve. We’ll give him the same numbers for next year as well and the year after. In fact, for the foreseeable future, we’ll assume that Henry puts up those numbers, which would put him in the top tier of NFL backs.

When would he top Smith’s rushing record? Just before halftime of the team’s Week Fifteen game in the year 2013. He’d break Smith’s record for rushing touchdowns in the second half of Week Seven’s game in the year 2015. Of course, both of those assume that Smith doesn’t add to his totals at all.

While it’s not fair to compare any second-year player to a Hall of Famer, Henry’s career performance thus far helps to further point out Smith’s greatness. Henry is just starting to get recognized as one of the top backs in the league. He rushed for 729 yards last year in a season shortened by injury. This season has been a breakout year, with over 1100 yards and a team record number of touchdowns.

It would be tough to find a running back that wouldn’t take a similar start to their career. Still, he is behind Smith’s pace. Emmitt rushed for 937 yards as a rookie. He outscored Henry as a rookie eleven touchdowns to four. Henry would need to average over 130 yards a game in the team’s last three contests to match Smith’s year two production.

Even more remarkably, Henry has missed three games due to injury in his two years in the league. Smith did not miss his third game because of injury until last season, his twelfth year in the league. (He did miss games due to a contract dispute and due to the Cowboys resting starters before the playoffs.)

Henry was a Bills fan as a youngster and rooted for Buffalo’s legendary running back Thurman Thomas, whose shoes he is now trying to fill. Still, Smith had a profound influence on Henry. When asked about his early football memories, Henry mentions Super Bowl XXVII and XXVIII, both Buffalo losses to Dallas. Smith totaled 240 yards, three touchdowns, and an MVP award in both games.

Henry’s goals for his second season in the league are more evidence of Smith’s influence. Where did Travis get the 1,500 and twelve that he mentioned? A good guess is the 1991 NFL season. In his second year in the league, Emmitt Smith rushed for 1,563 yards and twelve touchdowns.

For Henry, and any other aspiring NFL running backs, the bar has been set.

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