Emmitt Smith
"I gave everything I possibly could to the game, on and off the field," Emmitt proclaimed about his 14 year NFL career. Born May 15th, 1969 in Pensacola, Florida, Emmitt began his illustrious career at Escambia High School, before attending the University of Florida and being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 1990 draft.
Prior to Emmitt's arrival at Escambia, the Gators had just one winning season in its previous 18. When Emmitt stepped on the field his freshman year, the losing would stop. Emmitt rushed for 1,525 yards and 19 touchdowns in his first year. Overall, Emmitt rushed for 8,804 yards and 106 touchdowns. Emmitt is still considered one of the top All-Time Offensive Players in high school football.
After Emmitt' high school career ended, he was faced with a decision of where to continue his career.
He passed up Auburn and Nebraska and decided to stay at home and attend the University of Florida. He quickly jumped into the national scene, rushing for more than 100 yards in his second game as a Gator. The following week against Alabama, Emmitt moved into the starting lineup and set a Gator record with 224 rushing yards in a 23-14 victory. At the end of his first season, Emmitt had rushed for 1,341 yards, a Florida record, and led the SEC. At the end of his three years at Florida he had scored 37 touchdowns, had 23 100-yard rushing games, was a NCAA All-American and still holds 58 school records. Emmitt did not stay his senior year, instead made himself eligible for the NFL draft.
Emmitt was drafted by the Cowboys in the first round of the 1990 draft. Over the next twelve years Emmitt was able to help lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl Championships, lead the NFL in rushing four times, was the league MVP in 1993, MVP of Super Bowl XXVII and made eight Pro Bowl appearances. In addition, Emmitt was the first player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in 11 consecutive seasons and on October 27, 2002 he surpassed Walter Payton's All-Time Leading Rushing Record of 16,726 yards and became the NFL's All-Time Leading Rusher. On September 19, 2005 Emmitt was added to the Cowboys Ring of Honor along with his former teammates Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin.
Today Emmitt lives with his wife Pat in Dallas, Texas with their four children.