Vintage older Emmitt

[Toro9]

He was so good at not getting hammered. Which is why he was able to play so long and not miss many games.

 

[Motorola]

Emmitt had a great online and took advantage. Its not like just ANY RB could step in and do exactly what Emmit did with said line. Thats a foolish assumption.

Altho... Zeke would do pretty well as he did have a decent line. Dallas just over used him. Not everybody is as durable as Emmitt was.

ALSO - after his first few seasons in the league - Smith realized the punishment each game + plus the mounting toll every season took out on his body...
thus he sought out a chiropractor to confront and mitigate aches & pains he suffered each week so that his body could recover enough for Smith to be his best against the following opponent in the next game.

Smith's longtime durability in his grueling profession was a result of him taking measures = a course of action to prolongate his NFL career.

 

[RonnieT24]

It scares you to talk deeply about football. So go ahead, run away.

If it makes you feel better to believe this .. run with it. Neither it nor you are important enough to engage in such an exercise. Knock yourself out. Emmitt's greatness and accomplishments speak for themselves. If you can't hear them, try unplugging your ears.. or pulling your head out of you know where.

 

[T-RO]

If it makes you feel better to believe this .. run with it. Neither it nor you are important enough to engage in such an exercise. Knock yourself out. Emmitt's greatness and accomplishments speak for themselves. If you can't hear them, try unplugging your ears.. or pulling your head out of you know where.

-Emmitt is a HOFer and a Champion
-Emmitt is a top ten back. Debatable where in the top 10
-Emmitt has a warriors heart
-Emmitt played at least 4 years past his expiration date


I know you also argued against Cowboys pushing Emmitt above Pollard....and against Cowboys cutting Emmitt. Perhaps you have a bit of an overly big heart towards favorite running backs?

 

[T-RO]

Couldn't correct my goofy mistake...10 minute limit. Meant to write:

"I know you also argued for keeping Zeke as starter over Pollard."​

 

[T-RO]

Good lawdy...low blood sugar here. Couldn't correctly complete the sentence even on the second try.

The sentence as intended:

"I know you also argued for keeping Zeke as starter over Pollard....and then were against Cowboys cutting Zeke. Perhaps you have a bit of an overly big heart towards favorite running backs?"​

 

[Bigrandrn]

All 6 of them are Pro Bowlers and/or All-Pros.
That is more than enough to make any RB look like a stud.

And 2 of them are HOF talent. (Larry Allen as well as Erik Williams in his injury shortened career)

Why does 97-2002 specifically matter? Emmitt’s best years and best stats came in his first 7 years.

Several of those guys were in the league for years before Emmitt got there and were scrubs (Tuinei and Newton……they didn’t become good until after Emmitt got there. The only hall of farmer wasn’t drafted until Emmitt already lead the league in rushing multiple times with a league and Super Bowl mvp. Good players, but people are giving too much credit to the line and too little to Emmitt…..every time someone else got carries behind that line they sucked.

 

[Pass2Run]

Great game! Never listen to the negative Nellie's that say he wasn't a productive runner in late in his career.

What was his YPC?

Emmitt stunk late in his career.

 

[Hawkeye19]

Thx for posting! Brings back some memories for sure… 22 is the GOAT.

 

[Kingofholland]

What was his YPC?

Emmitt stunk late in his career.

No one will mistake Emmitt in year 12+ for the same player he was earlier in his career its just not possible. But it doesn't mean he wasn't an effective runner or fun player to watch. We as fans sometimes don't appreciate great things in the moment, but it was a great ride and its amazing what he accomplished throughout his career.

If you're referring to his time with the Cardinals, yeah that wasn't a fun period as a Cowboys fan, but even then there were still a few moments and highlights that gave us a sample of the Emmitt we love.

 

[RonnieT24]

Couldn't correct my goofy mistake...10 minute limit. Meant to write:

"I know you also argued for keeping Zeke as starter over Pollard."​

I also stated on more than one occasion that Pollard's style was far better suited for the style of offense Moore wanted to run than Zeke's and said as far back as early 2020 that if they were going to run that offense they never should have signed Zeke. Zeke is a downhill one-cut runner best suited for north-south smashmouth football from the deep set. Pollard is more of the jitter bug type whose style lends itself to more of the shotgun delays, sideways handoffs, edge runs and the like. My argument was and is predicated on the fact that the Cowboys have won more games leaning on Zeke and playing that style than they have playing the other way. Softheads made it about player vs player.. It has never been about that to me.. It's about winning vs losing. I view Zeke's style as winning football. That's not to say that it's the ONLY way to win.. But it's my favorite and the best teams I've watched in my lifetime have played that way. Especially the best Cowboys teams.

 

[Big_D]

What was his YPC?

Emmitt stunk late in his career.

The team stunk. Seems odd to think Emmitt should be in top form when the GM was a clusterfudge of horrendous decisions. The same thing that was happening at that time before Parcells even happened again after BP left. Just a downward spiral of crap management.

 

[eromeopolk]

People always seem to forget how great of an OL that Emmitt had.

Without studs like Mark Tuinei, Mark Stepnoski, Nate Newton, Erik Williams, Kevin Gogan, and Larry Allen……Emmitt would have likely had a very average career.

A great O-line is much more important for winning than a great RB.

There was no great wall of Dallas in 2000. That was the start of 3 consecutive 5-11, 5-11, 5-11 seasons. Emmitt Smith was just that great.

 

[cowboysfan99]

In the last 1/3 of his career Emmitt sucked compared to his own teammate running backs, running behind the same line. He no longer was even a good football player.

Yards Per Carry vs. Teammates
2000: Chris Warren, 4.3, Emmitt: 4.1
2001: Troy Hambrick 5.1, Emmitt: 3.9
2002: Troy Hambrick 4.0, Emmitt: 3.8
2003: Marcel Shipp, 3.6, Emmitt: 2.8
2004: Troy Hambrick* 4.5, Emmitt: 3.5

*Yes Hambrick played w/Smith in Dallas and Arizona.

Emmitt was injured in 2003, but otherwise you're comparing change of pace backs that got way less carries. I notice you didn't mention that when Hambrick took over as the lead back in 2003, he averaged 3.5 YPC behind that Cowboys line. Emmitt never did that bad in Dallas.

What's interesting is Emmitt and Payton were very similar where they peaked for 5 straight years after their rookie year. Then by year 7 they started going down. Payton's YPC dipped to 3.6 and 4.0 in 81-82, but then the Bears turned into a powerhouse first place team and his numbers went back up at the end.

 

[mldardy]

-Emmitt is a top ten back. Debatable where in the top 10

He is a top five back. There is no debate about that.

 

[shabazz]

the ability and willingness to play with pain and always putting his teammates and the fans first is enough for me…….rank him wherever one will.

Just glad he was a Dallas Cowboy

 

[plasticman]

During the four years, 1992-1995, the Cowboys went to four consecutive NFC championship games and won three Super Bowls.

Did you know that Emmitt was the 2nd leading receiver for three of those seasons. He was 3rd for the other one.

During those four seasons he had a combined 1629 touches in the regular seasons. That doesn't even include the 273 touches from the playoffs those seasons. That is a total of 1902 touches for four seasons!.

 

[ColoradoCowboy]

ouch, we had BOTH Demetrius Underwood and Alonzo Spellman back then.

 

[Thomas82]

Emmitt is truly underappreciated.

 

[Calvin2Tony2Emmitt2Julius]

You have proven that your a poor judge of running backs. And your unending homersim to fading cowboy backs late in their careers is your calling card.

This is just sick