An underhanded compliment by... Bayless?

[casmith07]

people tend to forget that once the offensive line makes 1 block on the line of scrimmage, they didn't convoy in front of Emmitt down the field for every single rush of his entire career. Emmitt was hard to bring down.

 

[tunahelper]

Sounds like a typical night out at his favorite bar scene, lifestyle for Skippy.

 

[Seven]

It was a great line with a great back. No brainer.


Are they solely responsible for Emmitts health? Maybe. That was by FAR his greatest accomplishment ever. Durability. He had a knack for getting what was given to him and the master of eluding the hits that could end up with an injury.



No one played the game like Emmitt. Smart. Patience, with an urgency.

 

[rcaldw]

I get sick of the discrediting of either Aikman or Smith.

Aikman made that offensive line look much better as a pass blocking group than they were too. 3 steps, ball out. 5 steps ball out. 7 steps ball out. go back and watch the old games.... it is AMAZING to see Aikman's timing.

I get sick of repeating the same thing.... but I will say it again. The 0-2 without Emmitt thing is WAY overplayed and distorted, but I will spare the whole argument here again.

What I WILL say, is that Emmitt was great. Aikman was great. The offensive line was very good. Aikman, Smith and Irvin ALL HELPED EACH OTHER, period.

What team WASN'T a team?

Montana had Rice, Taylor and Roger Craig, who was a GREAT running back in his prime by the way.

Bradshaw had Swann, Stallworth, Franco Harris and a great defense.

Tom Brady had a kicker who saved his tail more than once, and the tuck rule

 

[BourbonBalz]

We had that amazing OL when Emmitt held out two games and went 0-2.

I hate when people say Emmitt "held out". No he didn't. Emmitt never held out. He didn't have a contract then. A hold out is when a player is under contract and "holds out" for a new one. Emmitt didn't have a contract the first two games of the 93 season. Once and for all, he did not "hold out". Sorry, but that's just a pet pev for me.

 

[calicowboy54]

If they were such a great line why in the world did all of our backup running backs suck it up once they were on the feild with the same o-line, either in spelling emitt or during the contract hold out or any other time he was injured. answer me that mister bayless.......

 

[viman96]

I hate when people say Emmitt "held out". No he didn't. Emmitt never held out. He didn't have a contract then. A hold out is when a player is under contract and "holds out" for a new one. Emmitt didn't have a contract the first two games of the 93 season. Once and for all, he did not "hold out". Sorry, but that's just a pet pev for me.

So he is waiting for a new contract vs. holding out for a new contract You are splitting hairs IMO. I do not recall him being an unrestricted free agent allowing other teams to pursue him. Also I do not think you have to be under contract to hold out on a team. If the team owns your rights and you do not like their offer then obviously you do not sign and hold out for a better contract. We see rookies and vets do it every year. So IMO holding out can be defined a few ways.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

When was Big E involved in drugs? I don't remember any reports or suspensions involving Erik Williams and drugs.

I remember him being involved in that alleged rape at the White House with Michael Irvin right before the playoff game in Carolina. The lady would drop the charges after Dallas and its false distraction got beat.

Are you sure you are not mistaking Erik Williams for Leon Lett?

No, Erik Williams had major drug and alcohol issues. There was a reason why it was called the White House, and it's not because of the color of its exterior.

There's a pretty famous story about Jimmy Johnson ranting and raving about team discipline once and something like Williams being late for the game. Williams finally shows up and is in really 'bad shape' after a long night of partying and Jimmy immediately shut up and was just happy to have Williams there because an Erik Williams in 'bad shape' was still far better than any replacement the Cowboys had at the time. Williams was great, but I'm pretty sure most tailbacks didn't have that to contend with like Emmitt did.

Both Lett and Williams wasted a lot of their talent with drugs and alcohol.




YAKUZA

 

[rcaldw]

If they were such a great line why in the world did all of our backup running backs suck it up once they were on the feild with the same o-line, either in spelling emitt or during the contract hold out or any other time he was injured. answer me that mister bayless.......

First off. I would take Emmitt Smith over any other RB in the time that he played. Yes, that includes Barry Sanders. But I also think the arguments we make need to be truthful. The TRUTH is that we never backed up Emmitt with anything quality. That is the truth. Just look at the names of the guys who were his primary backups and tell me if any of the guys, at that particular stage of their careers, or with some of them, at ANY time in their career were any good? Chris Warren, for example, was good in his time but we got him in his twilight.

2nd, it isn't necessary to tear down the OL to build Emmitt up. YES he had a very good offensive line. Football is a TEAM sport. That doesn't take away from Smith's individual abilities.

3rd, the backups to Emmitt, with the limited abilities that most possessed actually lived up to their abilities when he was out.

1990 - Emmitt's primary backup was Tommie Agee... Emmitt avg. 3.9 per carry, Agee avg. 4.0 per carry

1991 - Emmitt's primary backup was the famous Ricky Blake... Emmitt avg. 4.3, Ricky Blake 5.3 with very limited carries.

1992 - Emmitt's primary backup was Curvin Richards (the one who got cut with season in progress... Emmitt avg. 4.6; Richards 3.6

1993 - Emmitt's primary backup was Derrick Lassic (rookie)... Emmitt avg. 5.3 (His greatest season IMO); Lassic 3.6

1994 - Emmitt's primary backup was Lincoln Coleman... Emmitt avg. 4.0; Coleman 2.9; Daryl Johnson 3.5

1995 - Emmitt's primary backup was Sherman Williams (probably the best backup he had)... Emmitt avg. 4.7; Williams 4.3

1996 - Emmitt's primary backup was Sherman Williams... Emmitt avg. 3.7; Williams 3.9

1997 - Emmitt's primary backup was Sherman Williams... Emmitt avg. 4.1; Williams 3.9

1998 - Emmitt 4.2; Williams 3.4

1999 - Emmitt 4.2; Chris Warren 4.1

2000 - Emmitt 4.1; Warren 4.3

2001 - Emmit 3.9; Troy Hambrick 5.1

2002 - Emmitt 3.8; Hambrick 4.0

Now, to me, the most startling thing of all is the SORRY LOT of backups that we kept at the position. We usually kept quality backups to Aikman and kept trash behind Smith.

Agee, Blake, Richards, Lassic, Coleman, Sherman Williams, Chris Warren (the first legitimate, long term NFL guys), Hambrick... what a list!

But in 13 years, Smith's backups avg more yards per carry than he did 6 times. Almost half.

Now, OBVIOUSLY, they are doing it on fewer carries. They may also have been getting some of those carries in obvious passing situations, who knows. But my point is that the offensive line was doing a pretty good job when the bunch of no names that backed up the NFL's all-time leading rusher averaged more yards per carry than he did in almost half the seasons he played.

And I guess my overall point is that I think it is silly, ridiculous, how we allow the haters, or we allow our own partisan attitude, to pit our great players against each other. Aikman was great in his own right. Smith was great in his own right. Irvin was great in his own right. OUR OFFENSIVE LINE was something to be proud of. We don't have to tear it down to build our hall of fame players up.